President Trump on Monday tapped White House counselor Alina Habba to serve as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
A New Jersey native, Habba represented Trump in high-stakes New York civil trials, including the business fraud case where he was ordered to pay $454 million for falsely inflating his net worth and the defamation and sexual assault lawsuits brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who won nearly $100 million at two jury trials.
“Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.
In a post on X, Habba said it’s “time to make New Jersey great again.”
The decision comes days after a federal judge transferred the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University alum and green-card holder detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to the state. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey is expected to lead the prosecution against Khalil.
Habba emerged as one of Trump’s fiercest media surrogates while one of his personal attorneys, defending the then-former president with vigor both in the courtroom and on television. She became Trump’s legal spokesperson and a senior advisor to his campaign, speaking at the Republican National Convention and campaign rallies in the fall.
A first-generation American who runs an eponymous law firm, she entered Trump’s orbit when she took over a defamation lawsuit brought against Trump by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos, who later dropped the case.
She also represented Trump in a civil lawsuit against 2016 presidential rival Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and dozens of other defendants, which resulted in a federal judge sanctioning Trump and Habba nearly $1 million for a “continuing pattern of misuse of the courts.”
John Giordano, who was previously serving as interim U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, was also nominated by Trump to serve as Ambassador to Namibia.
