PA federal judge to rule if Habba can stay on job
Trial paused as court weighs her role in high-stakes prosecution
By: Ricardo Kaulessar
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Alina Habba's status as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey will be up to a Pennsylvania judge, who will look into the claim by a criminal defendant that she should be disqualified from her position, according to a federal filing.
.....
U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann in an August 1 [2025] filing that he denied Julien Giraud Jr's motion to dismiss his drug and murder case but will delay the motion to dismiss while considering Giraud's seeking to disqualify Habba, whose office is prosecuting his case.
..... "I concluded that the Girauds are entitled to injunctive relief precluding Ms. Habba from participating in their prosecution if they are correct that she was appointed in violation of statute or the Constitution," Brann said in the filing.
.....Giraud and his son were scheduled to go on trial on August 4 [2025] in the Middle District of Pennsylvania after Giraud's attorney, Thomas Mirigliano, got it transfered from New Jersey.
..... Instead, in a judicial order that accompanied Brann's filing, the trial will be postponed for a hearing and oral argument on any challenges to Habba's appointment to be held August 15 [2025] at the United States Courthouse and Federal building in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
..... Giraud challenged Habba's appointment in a July 27 [2025] filing because he claimed that her appointment was unconstitutional. He cited a 2024 ruling by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed the federal case against President Donald Trump for allegedly taking and concealing classified documents because she found the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional, as he was supposed to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
..... As Habba's 120-day appointment by Trump as interim U.S. Attorney was to expire on July 25, [2025] the state's U.S. district court judges voted to appoint Desiree Leigh Grace, the first assistant U.S. attorney for New Jersey, to replace Habba instead of giving her an extension. After the judges; decision was made public, Grace was quickly fired by the Trump administration.
..... Then came the announcement that Habba would be acting U.S. attorney. The maneuver by the Justice Department to change her status form interim to acting kept Habba leading the office for the next 120 days.
..... Mirigliano could not be reached immediately for comment. NaSheena Porter Poznansky, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey, also could not be reached immediately for comment. Politico first reported the filing by Brann.