I’ll try to make this short and sweet. (The sweet part is easy) Despite his hatred of ‘losers’ Trumpty-Dumpty has promoted quite a few personal attorneys who LOST cases for him during his hiatus from being President. As is the case with so many Trump 2.0 appointees Lindsey Halligan’s and Alina Habba’s LACK of qualification for top positions with DOJ was their key ‘qualification.’ That and being considered attractive which likely mattered the most to Trump. Well, it seems Halligan is gone entirely from DOJ (and the administration?) and Habba’s attempt to get reinstated as U.S Attorney in New Jersey has gone down in flames by an en banc ruling from the Court of Appeals.
Let’s start with Halligan who NBC News tells us is GONE entirely from the Department of Justice. She’d done okay as an insurance lawyer in Florida with a firm that represented commercial property owners defending themselves against claims from small business owners. She visited Mar A Lago for whatever reason, met Trump and boom – she became one of HIS lawyers. Halligan was hard at work Trumpifying the venerated Smithsonian when DOJ ran into problems in the Eastern District of Virginia, arguably the second most important jurisdiction in the country.
Career Prosecutors including Trump’s pick to head it knew there wasn’t a case to be made against James Comey. People that actually knew sh*t got fired or demoted and Halligan, who had ZERO experience as a prosecutor (or even in open courtroom proceedings) was installed as U.S. Attorney. The problem was (I won’t bore you with the technicalities) her appointment violated the Vacancies Act. Judges grew increasingly frustrated that she kept referring to and even acting (as in signing case documents) as U.S. Attorney. I’m guessing the couched threats in judicial rulings were communicated privately: As STFU, resign and go to something else. According to the linked NBC article is appears her finally accepting she had to ‘stop “masquerading” as the Eastern District’s top federal prosecutor’ and the consequences of continued defiance finally got through to her:
U.S. District Judge David Novak, a 2019 Trump nominee, said he would allow Halligan to avoid attorney disciplinary proceedings into whether she misrepresented herself to the court “in light of her inexperience.”
“The Court recognizes that Ms. Halligan lacks the prosecutorial experience that has long been the norm for those nominated to the position of United States Attorney in this District,” he wrote in an opinion last week. “Consequently, and in light of her inexperience, the Court grants Ms. Halligan the benefit of the doubt and refrains from referring her for further investigation and disciplinary action regarding her misrepresentations to this Court at this time.”
Dare we hope the Bar in states where she is licensed go ahead anyway and punish her? Well, at least she’s out of DOJ although at this point we don’t know if Trump will find some other job for her. As for Alina Habba who’s been more brash and even more defiant than Halligan judges up in New Jersey and the appellate court they answer to are equally fed up with HER. Habba, as this article from The Hill reminds us was the first of four Trump loyalists installed as U.S. Attorneys early on.
Lacking the votes for Senate confirmation she, as the Vacancy Act allows was able to serve 120 days as U.S. Attorney. To stay on would require Senate confirmation or the judges in her jurisdiction granting her an extension. Habba was barely more qualified than Halligan and the panel of judges say NO. By law, if Trump didn’t get Habba or anyone else confirmed by the Senate they could pick a U.S. Attorney to serve until that happened – if it ever did. Habba, with Pam Bondi engineering the whole thing tried some crap to keep hanging on just as Halligan did. Habba of course took her case to court. And, just like when she was Trump’s personal lawyer lost. She appealed, and lost again.
Just to remind people appeals are usually heard by a three judge panel in a given appellate jurisdiction. Someone losing at that point has the option of requesting what’s called an ‘en banc’ hearing of their appeal. In layman’s terms it means the three judge thing gets repeated in front of all the appellate judges in that jurisdiction. Most people don’t bother, especially when a ruling is so clear-cut and the law backing is is so ‘on-point’ it’s a waste of time. The judges don’t like their own time wasted either and can, and frequently DO reject holding an en banc hearing. Guess what? The full appellate court (minus Emil Bove who incredibly recuse himself) told her to pound sand:
In a terse order Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit said the judges who ruled that Habba, a former personal attorney to Trump, was unlawfully appointed as U.S. attorney for New Jersey did not ask to rehear the case. A majority of judges voted against putting the matter in front of the full court, as well.
Apparently one of the three who voted to hear Habba’s appeal intends to file a dissent. Even if that wasn’t the case you just KNOW Habba and Bondi (Trump won’t even have to order it) try and push this to SCOTUS. I’m not sure these days if Thomas and Alito can get two of the other GOP appointees to provide the requisite four votes to ‘Grant Cert’ as in at least hear the case. for now:
The decision keeps intact the panel’s ruling that Habba’s tenure became unlawful when she remained in the role after her 120-day interim term expired, despite the “novel series of legal and personnel moves” the administration took to keep her in the job.
Habba is back at DOJ doing whatever. Probably experimenting with new looks (makeup, nails, etc.) and spending time at the gym to look good hanging out at the pool at Mar A Lago. Still, while the Department of Justice isn’t really the DOJ anymore with Bondi as AG we see the courts, the third branch of government are doing at least some things to make sure justice doesn’t disappear entirely. Let’s just hope we see more fed up judges slapping Bondi/the DOJ and Trump down.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
I think you typoed. Didn’t you mean Hooligan and Habba-dabba-doo? *G*