Deadline: Legal Blog-How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba's fate as U.S. attorney

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Last edited Tue Jul 29, 2025, 05:23 PM - Edit history (1)

A New Jersey defendant argues that Habba can’t lawfully prosecute the case because she isn’t legally the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba’s fate as U.S. attorney. How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba’s fate as U.S. attorney www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...

— ClimateAngelSOS ✡️🇺🇸☮️🌎🐝🌻🦋🇺🇦 (@climateangel.bsky.social) 2025-07-29T20:46:02.833Z

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/alina-habba-us-attorney-julien-giraud-lawsuit-rcna221696

When Julien Giraud Jr. was federally indicted on drug and gun charges last year in New Jersey, he had little reason to think his case would double as a challenge to the lawfulness of Alina Habba’s position as U.S. attorney. But that challenge is now playing out, as the defendant argues that the Trump ally isn’t lawfully serving in her position and therefore the office she purports to lead lacks the authority to prosecute him.....

So what’s Giraud’s argument? In a motion filed Sunday ahead of his trial set for next week, his lawyer Thomas Mirigliano wrote that Habba’s reappointment violated federal law because the fact that Trump submitted Habba’s nomination to the Senate prevents her from serving in an acting capacity, regardless of whether Trump subsequently withdrew her nomination or not. He argued that being prosecuted by an unauthorized U.S. attorney undermines his due process rights, so he asked U.S. District Judge Edward Kiel, the New Jersey judge handling his case, to dismiss the indictment or at least to block Habba or any prosecutor acting under her authority from prosecuting him.

The New York Times reported that federal court proceedings throughout New Jersey “were abruptly canceled on Monday because of uncertainty over” Habba’s authority, citing Giraud’s case and others. Habba is one of several lawyers who represented Trump in his personal capacity and have gone on to high-ranking Justice Department posts during his second term.

After Giraud filed his motion, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, which covers New Jersey and nearby states, tapped Pennsylvania’s chief federal trial judge for the state’s middle district, Matthew Brann, to preside over the matter. The chief circuit judge made the move under a law that says chief circuit judges “may, in the public interest, designate and assign temporarily any district judge of the circuit to hold a district court in any district within the circuit.”.....

Brann ordered a status conference with the parties to take place Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., so the direction in which the matter is headed could become clearer later Tuesday. Whatever happens at the trial court level might not be the last word on this consequential and thorny issue, so this could be just the start of drawn-out litigation.

This will be a fun case to watch.

[tulipsandroses]

1. . I don't remember who, but one of the tv lawyers, or podcast lawyers predicted this a few days ago

He said defense lawyers were going to take advantage of this chaos. That's what this administration is. Chaos. Everywhere.

[Jarqui]

2. Why wouldn't the state bar weigh in on this?

Trump lawyer Alina Habba settles with ex-golf club waitress who accused her of betrayal in sexual harassment case
Lawyer reportedly settled with a former Trump golf club employee in August
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/alina-habba-bedminster-lawsuit-settles-b2611971.html

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3. NJ Criminal Cases Paused After Challenge to Habba's Authority

It is NOT normal to pause all criminal proceedings

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/habba-uproar-continues-amid-challenge-to-appointment-by-trump

The controversy over Alina Habba’s appointment as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor grew this week as judges paused criminal cases amid a challenge by defendants who say she doesn’t legally hold the job.

Defendants facing narcotics charges are arguing that prosecutors can’t proceed with their case without a “validly appointed” US attorney in charge. The dispute could carry broad implications for criminal cases in New Jersey, and judges began postponing proceedings so that the issue can play out in court.

The Justice Department pushed back Tuesday, saying President Donald Trump followed the law when he tapped Habba last week as her 120-day interim post expired, even though New Jersey’s federal judges selected her top assistant, Desiree Grace, for the job. “Ms. Habba is validly serving as the Acting United States Attorney,” the DOJ said in a court filing.

The filing, in a narcotics case involving Julien Giraud Jr. and Julien Giraud III, came amid growing legal uncertainty as to whether Habba or Grace should be New Jersey’s top federal law enforcement officer. The federal judge who had overseen the case in New Jersey said the Girauds raised a “non-frivolous argument.”

“I think you’ll soon find out that other judges are going to stay whatever criminal matters there are pending,” US District Judge Edward Kiel said at a hearing in Camden, New Jersey, on Monday. “You’ll see generally that a lot of judges will not be hearing any criminal cases that are of a non-urgent matter.”

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4. Trump Appointment Maneuver Risks Thousands of Criminal Cases

Alina Habba’s sneaky reappointment as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey violates the law, says a criminal defendant, who wants his case thrown out as a result.

Trump Appointment Maneuver Risks Thousands of Criminal Cases

In the fight to preserve American democracy from Trumpian authoritarianism, a New Jersey defendant accused of drug and gun crimes named Julien Giraud Jr. could become the unlikeliest of heroes.

tinyurl.com/gOrdjW

— Jim Swanson (@jimswanson.bsky.social) 2025-07-29T20:03:42.774Z

https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2025-07-29-trump-appointment-maneuver-risks-thousands-of-criminal-cases/

The administration then maneuvered to keep Habba in the job. The law prevents someone from being an acting U.S. attorney and nominated for the post at the same time. But Habba resigned as interim U.S. attorney, and Trump withdrew her nomination for the post. Then, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Grace and hired Habba as first assistant U.S. attorney in her place. Therefore, under the vacancy rules, Habba could become the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey for another 210 days.

That’s where Julien Giraud Jr. comes in. He had a criminal trial set in New Jersey for August 4 on federal gun and drug charges. But his attorney, Thomas Mirigliano, filed a motion seeking to dismiss the charges on the grounds that Habba isn’t the real U.S. attorney.

“Ms. Habba’s re-appointment directly violates the FVRA, which explicitly prohibits individuals whose nominations have been submitted to the Senate from serving in an acting capacity for the same office, regardless of subsequent withdrawal of the nomination,” Mirigliano wrote in the filing. If Habba’s reappointment is invalid, the attorney reasoned, then any decisions made by her office constitute an “unconstitutional executive usurpation of judicial authority” and are “without legal effect.”

The case is now in the hands of a judge in Pennsylvania. Obviously, if one defendant succeeds in getting his federal case thrown out in New Jersey, every subsequent defendant will try the same tactic. While the courts might ultimately rule that prosecutorial authority is not diminished by breaking the vacancy rules, at the very least thousands of cases could screech to a halt for months.