Judge Matthew Brann disqualified Alina Habba from a criminal prosecution after finding her appointment as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey legally invalid. Brann, sitting by designation, issued a 77-page opinion concluding Habba was never lawfully the U.S. Attorney and had been unlawfully squatting in the office since July 1. Habba's interim appointment lapsed in July while her formal nomination stalled in the Senate, and the district judges appointed Desiree Grace. The Trump administration then pursued complex staffing maneuvers: Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Grace, Habba's nomination was pulled under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and Habba was named her own assistant in an attempt to retain the post.
Brann, the chief judge of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, heard the case by designation since all the judges from the New Jersey District already chose a different U.S. Attorney. Over the course of a 77-page opinion, the judge explained that Habba, Trump's favorite parking garage lawyer, was never actually the U.S. Attorney in the first place and has been unlawfully squatting in the office since July 1.
The Trump administration initiated a series of Rube Goldberg staffing gimmicks in a bid to return Habba to the job. Attorney General Pam Bondi promptly fired Grace in order to keep Habba in the job despite the fact that this (a) had zilch to do with Grace's legal appointment and (b) wouldn't return Habba to the job even if it did.
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