Unqualified Trump stooge finally vacates US attorney seat

Alina Habba, we hardly knew ya.

Well, actually, we completely knew you, which is why you’re out of your U.S. attorney job, and it looks like it’s for good this time. Yes, Alina Habba is taking her toys and going home.

The U.S. District Court for New Jersey judges also completely knew you, which is why they decided way back in July that, no, they do not want you to be their district’s attorney.

Who’d have thought that actual judges might want an actual attorney? The Trump administration seems to have been genuinely surprised that federal judges would not assist the president in his attempt to install an unqualified crony without Senate confirmation. 

Pennsylvania U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann also had Habba’s number, so when he was tapped to address the case challenging the legality of her nomination, he wrote up a 77-page pink slip.

Not taking the hint, the Trump administration appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, but those oral arguments turned out to be extremely not fun for Habba or the government. One of the judges on the three-judge panel, George W. Bush appointee D. Brooks Smith, called the administration’s complicated shenanigans “a complete circumvention of the appointments clause.”

But it was the other Bush appointee, Judge Michael D. Fisher, who really dropped the hammer on Habba, dismantling the government’s contention that Habba could stay in her job temporarily and indefinitely without Senate confirmation.

Though it took a whole week for it to sink in, Habba and the Trump administration have finally seemed to bow to the inevitable, and her short, stupid journey is over.

On Monday, Habba announced that she’s stepping down—from the position she has not legally assumed since July 1—to “protect the stability and integrity” of the U.S. attorney’s office. 

Her statement about it is truly bonkers. Here’s how it starts:

“For the past five years, I’ve fought for justice on behalf of the American people …”

Five years? So she’s counting her tenure bringing a $100 million RICO lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and a couple dozen other people as fighting for justice on behalf of the American people? Does that mean the American people are now on the hook for the nearly $1 million in sanctions that Habba and President Donald Trump were slapped with?

Habba also seems to be counting her time representing Trump in his sexual assault cases against E. Jean Carroll as fighting for justice on behalf of the American people. So are we all on the hook for the $83 million verdict in that one too?

Or what about when she represented Trump in the civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James? Somehow, when Habba defended Trump’s penchant for manipulating valuations, which began well before his first term, she was fighting for all of us. 

Not to mention the time she spent as the spokesperson for one of Trump’s super PACs. Definitely can feel justice rolling down like water from that for sure. 

So what’s going to happen with the other misfit toys who have been told by various courts that they’re in their roles illegally? We’re looking at you, Bill Essayli, Sigal Chattah, and Lindsey Halligan.

But let’s face it: at this point, who wants to work for Trump anyway?