Ex-Trump lawyer Alina Habba resigns as Acting US Attorney for New Jersey after court ruling

Alina Habba resigned after her appointment was deemed unlawful by the Third Circuit and will now serve as senior advisor in the DOJ
UPDATED DEC 9, 2025
Alina Habba stepped down from New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor role, and in her resignation statement she credited DOJ leaders Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche for reducing crime (Getty Images)
Alina Habba stepped down from New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor role, and in her resignation statement she credited DOJ leaders Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche for reducing crime (Getty Images)


BERNARDSVILLE, NEW JERSEY: Donald Trump’s former attorney, Alina Habba, announced her decision to step down as the US Attorney for New Jersey on Monday, December 8.

In her statement on X, she explained that her decision to step down stemmed from the result of the Third Circuit ruling. However, she emphasized that her compliance was not “surrender.”

Alina Habba, who served as lead counsel on the Russia-related lawsuit, was held jointly liable for the penalty alongside the former President (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Alina Habba, who served as lead counsel on the Russia-related lawsuit, was held liable for the penalty (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Alina Habba steps down, takes DOJ senior advisor position

In the statement posted on her X handle, Alina Habba wrote that for the past five years, she had “fought for justice” on behalf of the American people. She added that the DOJ had made New Jersey safer.

She said that Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche had driven "down crime," made the streets free of violent offenders, and “put away child p****tors.”

U.S. President Donald Trump joined by Attorney General Pam Bondi delivers remarks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on March 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. This is Trump's third cabinet meeting of his second term, and it focused on spending cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump, joined by Attorney General Pam Bondi, delivers remarks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on March 24, 2025, in Washington, DC (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Speaking of her ongoing issues with the judicial system, Habba said that while she was focused on delivering “real results,” the judges in New Jersey took “advantage of a flawed blue slip tradition” and became weapons for the “politicized left.”

“For months, these judges stopped conducting trials and entering sentences, leaving violent criminals on the streets,” she wrote. 

Alina Habba shared a video of what she described as former President Joe Biden's 'fake Oval Office' (Alina Habba/X)
Alina Habba shared a video of what she described as former President Joe Biden's 'fake Oval Office' (Alina Habba/X)

Alina Habba further stated that the judges joined the senators, who cared more about fighting Donald Trump than the people they were meant to serve.

Habba added that she fought against “lawfare” targeting Trump and against “politics” infecting the justice system. However, her loyalty towards America was misunderstood as her loyalty towards politics. 

Alina Habba clarified that although she was stepping down as the US Attorney for New Jersey, she would continue to serve the DOJ as the senior advisor to the Attorney General for US Attorneys.

“Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl,” she wrote.  

Former President Donald Trump made several verbal gaffes during the Philadelphia MAGA rally (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump made several verbal gaffes during the Philadelphia MAGA rally (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Court rules Alina Habba’s appointment as unlawful

On December 1, the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court order in a 32-page opinion and determined that Alina Habba was appointed as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey unlawfully.

The lawyers who had challenged Habba’s authority commented on the ruling and said that Donald Trump could not "usurp" longstanding statutory and constitutional processes to “insert whomever he wants in these positions.”

They also said that they would continue challenging “President Trump’s unlawful appointment of purported US attorneys.”

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