'Unlawfully appointed': Alina Habba 'disqualified' as US attorney by Republican judge

U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann ruled that Alina Habba, President Donald Trump's acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, could not continue in her role.

In a 77-page ruling on Thursday, Brann noted that the Trump administration had used "a novel series of legal and personnel moves" to keep Habba in her position after a panel of judges effectively ousted her. Two defendants, Julien Giraud Jr. and Cesar Pina, argued that Habba could not oversee their prosecutions.

"Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not," Brann wrote. "And because she is not currently qualified to exercise the functions and duties of the office in an acting capacity, she must be disqualified from participating in any ongoing cases."

Brann, a Republican though he was appointed by President Barack Obama, voided Pina's indictment because he said Habba took the action after being "unlawfully appointed" by Trump.

"I disqualify Ms. Habba from engaging in the prosecutions of the Girauds and Mr. Pina, and from supervising the same," the judge wrote. "Any Assistant United States Attorney who prosecutes the Girauds or Mr. Pina under the supervision or authority of Ms. Habba in violation of my Order is similarly subject to disqualification."

The Trump administration was expected to appeal the ruling.