The latest ruling out of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals is yet another example of what happens when blue state judges, activist lawyers and Beltway legal purists decide they would rather hamstring President Trump than let his administration actually function. This time the target is Alina Habba, the tough New Jersey federal prosecutor Trump handpicked because she actually believes in enforcing the law instead of negotiating with it. According to the appellate panel, her appointment was “unlawful,” which of course is exactly the outcome the left wanted from the start.
The three judge panel upheld a lower court decision that tossed Habba out of the role, handing a win to a group of defendants who suddenly discovered a deep passion for constitutional theory the moment they realized they might stand trial under a Trump appointed prosecutor. It is no surprise that the panel grilled DOJ attorney Henry Whitaker back in October. Blue state legal circles have been hunting for any excuse to take out Trump’s prosecutors, especially the ones who push cases involving corruption, immigration and organized crime in places where those issues are politically inconvenient.
Whitaker explained that the administration used overlapping mechanisms Congress put in place to maintain continuity at U.S. attorney offices. He said the steps were precise and carefully timed to comply with the law. But the judges didn’t want precision. They wanted a scalp. One judge even asked if the moves “circumvented” the appointments clause, a suggestion so dramatic it might as well have come with background music. The fact that two of the judges were Bush appointees only proves the point conservatives have known for years, the GOP’s old guard is just as willing as Democrats to kneecap Trump whenever possible.
Habba is not the only prosecutor tangled up in these manufactured battles. Lindsey Halligan in Virginia and Bill Essayli in California are also fighting legal challenges cooked up by clever defense attorneys who know they might beat the charges if they first beat the prosecutor. And who is leading the charge against Habba? Abbe Lowell, the same Beltway lawyer who always seems to appear whenever Trump World needs another legal brick thrown at it.
The whole thing is a transparent attempt to weaken Trump’s legal firepower in blue territories where entrenched political machines rely on federal prosecutors looking the other way. Habba was not one of those prosecutors. She was doing the job. And that is precisely why they wanted her gone. Trump’s team will appeal, and if they take it to the Supreme Court, even better. It is long past time to settle whether presidents can staff critical law enforcement positions without sabotage from the same people who refuse to enforce the law themselves.
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