DOJ to appeal ruling disqualifying Trump lawyer Habba as New Jersey prosecutor | World News

The US Justice Department on Monday indicated it would appeal a judge’s ruling barring Alina Habba, a former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, from supervising federal cases as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor.
Chief US Drict Judge Matthew Brann of the Middle Drict of Pennsylvania on Thursday found that Habba was unlawfully serving as acting US attorney for New Jersey, deeming improper a series of procedural maneuvers the Trump adminration undertook to extend her 120-day interim tenure.
The ruling, which prevented Habba from overseeing criminal cases brought the US attorney’s office, has thrown hundreds of active criminal cases in New Jersey into doubt. Federal Drict Court judges in New Jersey previously declined to extend Habba’s interim term and instead named her top deputy as her successor.
The Trump adminration then fired that official, Desiree Grace, and preemptively removed her as US attorney, seeking to reinstall Habba as the acting US attorney. Brann found that those moves violated US laws governing federal appointments.