Former Donald Trump attorney Alina Habba is all but certain to be headed for the door next week leaving behind portraits of herself on the walls and disgruntled staffers after her brief stint as a U.S. attorney comes to an end.
According to a report from the New York Times, her appointment as the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey on an interim basis began in "chaos" and is now drawing to a close, with employees looking forward to her departure while also considering leaving too.
Habba's appointment as a the U.S. attorney was derailed by both of New Jersey's Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, limiting her to a 120-day term in office.
According to the Times, "Her tenure has also shattered morale inside the U.S. attorney’s office and left many prosecutors looking for a way out, according to 16 close observers of the office," adding that she has infuriated career prosecutors by interjecting herself into their cases and keeping them out of the loop.
Case in point, the Times' Jonah E. Bromwich and Tracey Tully wrote Habba "granted a rare private meeting" with attorneys for Eliyahu Weinstein who was facing a 24-year sentence for investment fraud without inviting the attorneys handling the case.
The report notes, "The episode left members of her staff infuriated."
"Prosecutors have chafed at her availability to defense lawyers. She disbanded the office’s Civil Rights Division and killed the office’s longest-running prosecution just days before it was scheduled to go to trial.," the Times is reporting before adding, "Three framed pictures of herself now hang in a conference room named for a legendary New Jersey crime fighter, Frederick B. Lacey."
Habba's future in the office now lies with the state’s district court judges, who have the ability to extend her time in office which is scheduled to end on Tuesday.
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