Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) has moved to dismiss the criminal charges against her brought by President Donald Trump's acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba.
According to CBS News' Scott MacFarlane, McIver "has filed [a] motion to dismiss her federal criminal case, arguing she has 'legislative immunity' from her arrest outside Newark immigration facility in May" — and noted that "Congresswoman McIver also followed ICE out the gates of Delaney Hall to continue her oversight. That was not a deviation from her oversight agenda; it was doubling down on it."
Initially, Habba moved to charge Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was also present at the protest, but later dropped those charges and secured an indictment of McIver on three counts of "forcibly impeding and interfering" with federal law enforcement.
McIver has denied any wrongdoing.
Last month, GOP lawmakers presented a resolution in the House to censure McIver, but it failed after five Republicans crossed over to vote it down.
All of this is coming as Habba, who previously acted as Trump's defense attorney, faces serious challenges to the legality of her own appointment as a federal prosecutor. After the local district court refused to authorize her to continue serving as interim U.S. Attorney beyond the 120-day cutoff, the Justice Department fired the prosecutor they appointed in her place and installed Habba in her role, essentially keeping her in charge of the office.
A federal judge recently ruled that Habba is nonetheless not legitimately serving as a U.S. Attorney.