Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired the replacement for New Jersey’s top Trump-appointed prosecutor over what she claims is political favoritism and judicial duplicity.
Desiree Lee Grace was appointed by New Jersey district court judges to replace Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, who reportedly lacks the votes to be formally confirmed by the Senate as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
On Tuesday, Bondi said that Grace has been “removed,” defending Habba for “making NJ safe again,” in a post on X.
“Nonetheless,” the post read, “politically minded judges refused to allow her to continue in her position, replacing Alina with the First Assistant… this Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the President’s core Article II powers.”
New Jersey Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim released a statement on Tuesday calling out the Trump administration for a “disregard” of the law.
“Trump’s Department of Justice is once again criticizing a court that acted within its authority,” the statement said,”continuing a pattern of publicly undermining judicial decisions and showing disregard for the rule of law and the separation of powers.”
The senators called the decision a “blatant attempt to intimidate anyone that doesn’t agree with them and undermine judicial independence.”
Deputy Attorney General and former personal attorney to Trump Todd Blanche defended Bondi on X. “It won’t work,” he said. “Pursuant to the President’s authority, we have removed that deputy, effective immediately. This backroom vote will not override the authority of the Chief Executive.”
Habba had not been a prosecutor before March. Since Habba was appointed, she has brought legal action against Democratic lawmakers in connection to ICE protests. In May, Ras Baraka, Mayor of Newark, was arrested on charges of federal trespassing at an ICE facility, while Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J. is accused of two counts of assaulting, resisting and impeding an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer at a protest.
The charges against Baraka were later dropped. Baraka has since sued Habba over his arrest. McIver has plead not guilty.
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