Judge appoints new US attorney for New Jersey after Habba, other officials were disqualified
A veteran federal prosecutor was named U.S. attorney for New Jersey on Monday, ending a dispute between the judiciary and President Donald Trump over control of the office that included the disqualification of the administration’s previous picks for the job.
A U.S. district court judge has issued a one-sentence order designating Robert Frazer as the state’s top federal prosecutor — the result of an agreement between federal judges and the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The Department of Justice thanks the District Court for working with the Department to appoint Robert Frazer as U.S. Attorney so that once again, criminal prosecutions can resume without unnecessary challenge or delay on behalf of the people of New Jersey,” the Department said in a statement.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann disqualified three Justice Department officials who shared authority over the office, saying they were appointed as part of an illegal power grab by the Trump administration. They replaced Trump’s first-choice U.S. attorney, his former personal attorney Alina Habba, who Brann barred from her job last year because she went too long without Senate confirmation.
The three officials — Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox and Ari Fontecchio — had been named to replace Habba indefinitely, in an unusual move by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
At a court hearing last week, another federal judge in New Jersey ordered the three men to answer his questions under oath and excluded another government official from the proceedings, frustrated by the Justice Department’s chaotic oversight of federal prosecutions in the state.
Habba, who is now a senior advisor at the Justice Department, praised Frazer in a social media post Monday, saying “New Jersey deserves a great federal law enforcement leader who is consistent with President Trump’s agenda to make this country safe and New Jersey great!” »
Frazer, who was a senior attorney in the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey, did not immediately respond to an email message Monday.
The judiciary and the Trump administration are at odds over the selection process for U.S. attorneys, who normally must undergo Senate confirmation to remain in office.
The justices ruled in separate cases that the people named as top federal prosecutors in Nevada, Los Angeles and northern New York were all carrying out their duties illegally.
Lindsey Halligan, who filed charges against two Trump opponents, left her post as acting U.S. attorney in Virginia after a judge found in November that her appointment was illegal. The judge also ruled that indictments she filed against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey should be dismissed.
In some cases, judges have exercised their statutory power to appoint U.S. attorneys to oversee prosecutors’ offices until one of the president’s picks is confirmed by the Senate. The Justice Department responded by immediately firing these appointed judges.
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Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
