Trump Lawyer Is Toast at Her Final Meeting of Career?!! Ask ChatGPT

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2:28Michael Popok:Alina Haba's in the news again for all the wrong reasons. 17 judges of the District Court of New Jersey are meeting today to decide what to do with her interim U.S. attorney candidacy. You see, she was appointed on an interim basis by Donald Trump to be the U.S. attorney for all of New Jersey, the chief federal officer there. But she had 120 days in which to get confirmed by the Senate. And she's getting blocked and blocked well by the two Democratic senators from New Jersey, Cory Booker and Senator Kim. And they're going to blue slip her. They're not going to give her the blue slip that she needs to get out of committee.

3:10Michael Popok:And they've told that to the Trump side. Her seeing the writing on the wall, she's apparently gotten her staff together and has said she doesn't have the votes with the federal district judge to extend her tenure. Does that mean we've seen the last of Alina Habba as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey? I'll cover it all for Midas Touch. I'm Michael Popok, and this is Legal AF. Let's get into it. How did we get here? And we got a rule, a rule that, of course, was made to be broken by Donald Trump. There is a statute that applies here, 28 U.S.C. 546, and it effectively says that the U.S. Attorney General, in this case Pam Bondi, when there is a vacancy, like there was in New Jersey, appoints someone to that position.

4:01Michael Popok:She just can't appoint somebody to that position that can't get confirmed or won't be or hasn't been confirmed by the Senate. In other words, if HABA went through the full process and got rejected by the Senate, she couldn't then be the interim. But she then can appoint somebody. That person serves at the pleasure of the attorney general until they get confirmed by the Senate or 120 days, whichever happens first. 120 days is going to be on Tuesday. So they're running out of time. They had a similar problem with Ed Martin in District of Columbia, except they outfoxed, if you will, the D.C. Circuit Court judges, because instead of allowing the judges there to appoint someone, because that's the The next step in the 28 USC section 546 process, the judges pick for the interim basis until somebody is confirmed.

5:02Michael Popok:Trump just stuck another person in there. Janine Pirro gave himself another kind of a reset. There was nothing in the statute or in the case law that says he's allowed to do that. But that's what he did. So keep your eye on the ball here. I'm not I love the fact that the that the 17 active duty judges for the District of New Jersey, my home state, 15 of which are Democrats, five appointed by Obama, 10 appointed by Biden and two appointed by Bush are going to meet. They could do nothing and they could just let Trump fix the problem by sticking another appointee in there. I doubt they do that. They could take some comfort about how the Northern District of New York just recently rejected a Trump appointment and refused to extend that person's term.

5:57Michael Popok:John Sarconi, they could say, well, we could do the Sarconi thing and not extend her. They have two candidates that they'd like to stick in there instead of her. They've got a first assistant U.S. attorney, Desiree Rice, they'd like to stick in there, and Noel Hillman, who used to be a judge. They're likely to do that. What could Donald Trump do with Alina Haba? That's the question. Just because she doesn't get extended, her term doesn't get extended by the New Jersey district judges, doesn't mean she can't be put through a process through the Senate. Now, the horse race I'm watching is whether they're successful in getting Emil Bove, another criminal defense lawyer for Donald Trump, shoved through as an appellate judge in the Third Circuit.

6:46Michael Popok:because if they're successful in doing that, we just saw the Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee walk out and he barely got the votes to get out of committee and go to the House floor. And I'm sorry, the Senate floor, where there's going to be another firefight on the Senate floor about Emil Bovek, who's obscenely unqualified for his job, both in demeanor, in an intellect and in ethics. But if they get him through, Trump will be emboldened, I believe, And they will try to shove Alina Habba through. Now, the block is Cory Booker and Kim. I'm going to try to get Senator Booker back to talk to us here on Legal AF about this process.

7:30Michael Popok:But they have to give a blue slip, one or both of the senators for a state. Now, this is courtesy. This is Senate rules. Question is, is John Thune, who is the Senate majority leader, going to rip up the book of protocol for Senate norms? He's done it so far and allow over a blue slip objection, allow Alina Haba to have her candidacy move forward if Trump decides to do that. Now, he's, Trump's going to have to make a political calculation about whether he's got the votes to get her in there. Summer is officially here, which means mosquito season is in full swing. And I'll be honest, in my house, it's a battle every night.

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10:24Michael Popok:Department of Justice. He's just running around like a minister without portfolio, bringing on all sorts of kooky crazies from the Jan Six conspiracy world, including Jan Sixers themselves, to serve on that committee. You know, so not, you know, Senate confirmation for a position doesn't mean that, you know, that Trump couldn't find another position that could do as much or more damage that doesn't require Senate confirmation. So I wanted to get beneath the headline here. That's what we like to do on Legal AF. Another headline was like, HABA bids farewell to her staff, says she doesn't have the votes but loves the job.

11:03Michael Popok:Something like that. I saw the headlines. But then when you look beneath it, it doesn't mean that Trump, now emboldened with so many Senate and House wins, isn't going to try. And the more you challenge Trump to violate the rules. He'll say, what's the rule? What's the norm? It's a Senate protocol. Screw that. I mean, you could just hear it. You know, I'm going to get Alina that job. All right. But I do like the resistance of the of the New Jersey district court judges who look like have signaled they are not going to extend for 120 days. And I don't think, you know, just to round out this hot take, I don't think they're going to give Donald Trump a couple of day gap to appoint another person, reset the clock like he just did in D.C.

11:51Michael Popok:with with with Janine Pirro and get another 120 days, you know, to try to work it out with Alina Haba. I think they're going to stick somebody in there in between this first assistant U.S. attorney, career prosecutor or this former federal judge, Noel Hillman, who wants the job. And they'll stay until there's a permanent person filled. The question is, is that person going to be named Alina Haber or not? Under normal circumstances, I would say no, because of the blue slip block by Booker or by Kim. But we don't live in normal circumstances. We have to be prepared. I think it's interesting that the district court judges look like they're going to settle on a Republican to fill that spot under a Republican president as opposed to a Democrat, even though they are mainly Democrats.

12:43Michael Popok:I mean, Trump's going to have a hard time complaining about that. Like, oh, you know, the Obama-Biden-Democrats activist judges again. What, pick two Republicans? I mean, most of his, all of his complaining is not based in any type of reality or fact, but we've always known that. So I'll continue to follow it all right here. I'm back, as you can see from the backdrop. I'm back from overseas. I'm back behind the microphone. I'm back with you. I certainly miss doing this on a regular basis. I try to keep up with it as best I could while maintaining my family vacation. But it is easier now that I'm back full time with you.

13:19Michael Popok:So Legal AF, the podcast, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Eastern time here on Midas Touch. We've got a Legal AF YouTube channel. Wow, it's gangbusters. It's going through the roof. It's all because of you. We're well over 700 ,000 subscribers in less than nine months and went over our 200 million views. What a milestone. I could never never could have imagined it. We formed the channel back in September. It's a big compliment to you when we are humbled by it. And of course, I've got the sub stack for Legal AF with all the postings in there about law and legal filings. And then I got my new podcast Tuesday nights on Midas Touch called The Intersection, 8 p.m.

14:02Michael Popok:Eastern time right here on the Midas Touch Network. So until my next report, I'm Michael Fopock. Can't get your fill of Legal AF? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF sub stack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the Substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call. Wait for it. Morning AF. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well. We got some new reporting. We got interviews. We got ad free versions of the podcast and hot takes where Legal AF on Substack.

14:38Michael Popok:Come over now to free subscribe. With summer coming to an end, you're going to be spending a lot more time indoors. Get your home ready and save up to 45 % off custom window treatments during the Labor Day VIP access sale at Blinds.com. From room darkening to light filtering shades, finding the perfect fit is easy. Get free samples, expert design help, and professional measure and install services, or DIY with confidence and support every step of the way. Shop up to 45 % off site-wide right now during the Labor Day Access Sale at Blinds.com.