INTERNACIONAL
Trump exploits loopholes to keep Alina Habba in US attorney role, triggering court clash
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President Donald Trump is pulling out all the stops to keep his loyal allies in top prosecutor roles in blue states, including his former personal attorney Alina Habba in New Jersey, where a court battle now casts doubt over who is running the U.S. attorney’s office.
Trump has attempted to circumvent the Senate confirmation process to maintain Habba’s authority, as well as the authority of his appointees in California and New York. Habba’s appointment, however, has been complicated by a legal challenge from a criminal defendant in her district.
Habba said in a statement to Fox News Digital she is unfazed by the development.
«I am confident we will win any and all attempts to thwart the well-established Article II Powers of the Executive Branch and the President of the United States,» Habba said.
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U.S. President Donald Trump listens as White House Presidential Counselor Alina Habba delivers remarks before being sworn in as the interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in the Oval Office at the White House on Mar. 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Habba’s appointment appeared set to end last week when federal judges in New Jersey voted to replace her instead of extending her temporary term under federal vacancy laws. The judges picked veteran prosecutor Desiree Leigh Grace to succeed Habba, who lacks a prosecutorial background.
But the Trump administration attempted to outmaneuver the judges by firing Grace and switching Habba from interim to «acting» U.S. attorney. The move has caused confusion about who is leading the office, according to the attorney of criminal defendant Julien Giraud.
Giraud is facing run-of-the-mill drug and gun charges in Habba’s district, but his attorney, Thomas Mirigliano, said Habba’s «irregular» designation and re-designation as U.S. attorney is unlawful and grounds for dismissing his client’s case.
DOJ SWIFTLY FIRES ALINA HABBA’S COURT-APPOINTED REPLACEMENT FOR US ATTORNEY IN NEW JERSEY
Alina Habba, attorney for former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks on stage on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
«Facing an imminent criminal trial proceeding under questionable legal authority, Giraud Jr., hereby seeks dismissal of the indictment or, alternatively, injunctive relief barring Ms. Habba, or any Assistant United States Attorney acting under her purported authority, from exercising further prosecutorial powers in this matter,» Mirigliano wrote in court papers.
Court proceedings across the District of New Jersey were also brought to a standstill because of the lingering questions about Habba’s authority, the New York Times reported Monday.
A federal judge in Pennsylvania is overseeing Giraud’s new motion because of the New Jersey federal court’s conflict of interest in the matter.
To appoint Habba as acting U.S. attorney, Trump also had to withdraw her nomination as permanent U.S. attorney. Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, New Jersey’s Democratic senators, had blocked her path to confirmation through the Senate’s blue slip tradition. Booker said in a statement that he too thought Habba had unlawfully reassumed the role as top prosecutor in his state.
«This Administration may not like the law, but they are not above it,» Booker said.
Similar situations cropped up in New York and California but have not invited the same level of scrutiny as Habba’s has at this stage.
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US Attorney for the Central District of California Bilal Essayli, speaks during a news conference with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (out of frame) at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles on June 12, 2025. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Bill Essayli, the temporary U.S. attorney in the Central District of California, was transitioned Tuesday from interim to acting U.S. attorney at the end of his 120-day tenure. Essayli is a Trump-aligned prosecutor who made national headlines after he brought a series of high-profile charges against anti-ICE activists protesting in Los Angeles last month, but critics have observed that his office has since moved to dismiss some of those cases or reduce the charges.
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The chief judge in Essayli’s district, Dolly Gee, an Obama appointee, declined to take action on permanently approving Essayli after his 120-day interim period. The Trump administration’s legal maneuvers to keep him in his job have positioned him to serve as the district’s lead prosecutor for at least an additional 210 days, the designated term for an acting U.S. attorney.
In the Northern District of New York, John Sarcone was also transitioned from interim to acting U.S. attorney.
Matt Finn contributed to this report.
justice department,alina habba,donald trump,new jersey,judiciary
INTERNACIONAL
El golpe fulminante de EE.UU. e Israel para matar al líder supremo de Irán, Ali Khamenei
INTERNACIONAL
Jeb Bush commends former rival Trump’s Iran operation: ‘This is their time to take their country back’
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FIRST ON FOX: A major public policy nonprofit co-led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush praised President Donald Trump for ordering Saturday’s military strikes against Iran.
United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) — was formed in 2008 by Ambassador Mark Wallace, who held a United Nations-centered post in Bush’s brother’s administration, and former George H.W. Bush diplomat Dennis Ross — to combat threats posed by the Islamic Republic.
The group has been on the front lines of highlighting Iran’s human rights abuses and attacks on Americans and advising policymakers and the business community about dangers posed by Tehran.
The organization counsels existing and would-be commercial partners of Iran regarding the legal, financial and reputational risks of that kind of commerce.
«UANI salutes the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members carrying out this historic mission against the Iranian regime,» Bush and Wallace told Fox News Digital Saturday.
Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, left, and Jeb Bush take part in a presidential debate at the Reagan Library Sept. 16, 2015, in Simi Valley, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
«We applaud President Trump for his courageous decision to launch this military operation. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has unleashed terror, violence and misery — against its own people and across the region — while threatening the United States, Israel and our allies.»
Bush, who ran against Trump in a bruising 2016 primary, and Wallace noted that many presidents tried to bring Iran into the «peaceful community of nations» but were not able to finish the job.
«This president engaged extensively and in good faith to achieve a diplomatic solution,» they said after Trump indicated as recently as last week he wanted to negotiate terms.
«The regime chose escalation and continued its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The responsibility for this moment rests squarely with Ayatollah Khamenei.»
Khamenei, 86, was declared dead by Israeli sources by late afternoon.
Bush and Wallace added it was clear the joint American-Israeli operation was directed not at Iran, the country and citizenry, but at Khamenei’s «lethal capabilities.»
The Iranian people, they said, have long suffered under repression and that Trump’s message since the strikes began is one that should be embraced by all Americans: «We aim to see Iran free, prosperous, and at peace. This is their time to take their great country back.»
«The Butcher of Tehran is dead,» Bush and Wallace added in a separate public statement.
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Bush added in a statement on X that «Operation Epic Fury marks a historic mission against the Iranian regime.»
«We salute the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members and commend for his courageous decision,» he added.
Bush’s relationship with Trump has appeared to warm since their bitter feuds of a decade ago.
During the 2016 sweeps, Trump nicknamed the Republican Party scion «Low Energy Jeb,» while Bush quipped that the mogul would not be able to «insult your way to the presidency» after the eventual victor mocked an ad that former first lady Barbara Bush filmed for her son.
While governor, Bush made improving public education a hallmark of his administration in Tallahassee. Bush implemented stricter proficiency standards in elementary education and signed what was dubbed the «A+ plan,» making Florida the first state to require clear letter grades on student performance.
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He recently praised the Trump administration’s overtures toward universal school choice and federal block grants as a «transformational opportunity.»
«The Trump administration has a chance to shift the power dynamic back to the states, where policymakers are uniquely equipped to understand and address the diverse needs of their students, schools, and communities,» he added in a column in Education Week.
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Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin joins ‘America Reports’ to give the latest on the aftermath of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
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Iran entered a new chapter Saturday after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, abruptly ending more than three decades of authoritarian rule and setting in motion a leadership transition the regime has long prepared.
A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that while Khamenei’s demise is a «massive blow» to the Islamic Republic, Tehran anticipated the possibility and took steps to withstand such a scenario.
«Mere survival, at this point, would be considered a victory,» the diplomat said of the regime, according to the outlet, following U.S. and Israeli strikes across the country.
A recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) outlined three broad trajectories for a post-Khamenei Iran: managed regime continuity, an overt or creeping military takeover, or systemic collapse.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)
CFR cautioned that even a leadership change at the top would not necessarily translate into meaningful political reform in the near term, given the regime’s deeply institutionalized power structure and its record of using force to maintain control.
The report notes that the real balance of power rests within a tight circle of clerical elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
It describes a likely «continuity» scenario as producing «Khamenei-ism without Khamenei,» in which a successor from within the regime preserves the ideological framework of the Islamic Republic while relying on established security institutions to preserve stability.
LEAKED DOCUMENTS EXPOSE KHAMENEI’S SECRET DEADLY BLUEPRINT FOR CRUSHING IRAN PROTESTS
«The Islamic Republic’s constitution includes a succession process. The Assembly of Experts, a clerical body, is constitutionally charged with selecting the next supreme leader,» Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital.
«In the interim, should there be a leadership vacancy, an interim leadership council is formed comprised of the president, chief justice, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Council,» he added. «The IRGC is a key stakeholder in this process, and will heavily influence its outcome.»
Over the past three decades, the Bayt-e Rahbari, or the Office of the Supreme Leader, expanded into what a February report by UANI described as a «sprawling parallel state» operating alongside Iran’s formal institutions.
Large crowds gather at Enghelab Square in Tehran, Sunday, after Iranian state TV announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The analysis characterizes the Office as the regime’s «hidden nerve center,» extending control across the military, security establishment and major economic foundations in ways that make the system’s authority institutional rather than dependent on Khamenei’s physical presence.
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«The supreme leader today is no longer just one man; he is represented through an all-encompassing institution that consolidates power, manages succession, and guarantees continuity,» the non-partisan policy organization said. «The Islamic Republic’s most enduring strength lies in this hidden architecture of control, which will continue to shape the country’s future long after Khamenei himself departs from the scene.»
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war with iran,iran,middle east,world,geopolitics
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