President Trump on Monday announced that he is appointing longtime ally Alina Habba to be New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor. She has been a personal attorney to Mr. Trump for years, known for her pugnacious defense of him against the media and in courtrooms.
Mr. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, his social media site. He said that Habba, a counselor to the president who has not previously worked as a prosecutor, “will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career.”
Habba has been at Mr. Trump’s side for four years, at first filing unique, combative lawsuits — such as a doomed 2021 effort seeking a court order halting an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James. That investigation led to one of Habba’s most high profile defenses of the president, then a civilian.
“I am honored to serve my home state of New Jersey as Interim U.S. Attorney and I am grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility,” Habba said to CBS News, before mentioning her previous clashes on Mr. Trump’s behalf. “Just like I did during my time as President Trump’s personal attorney, I will continue to fight for truth and justice. We will end the weaponization of justice, once and for all.”
Alex Brandon / AP 
Habba was among a half dozen lawyers who argued for Mr. Trump and others during a three-month-long 2023 civil fraud trial that pitted Mr. Trump against James’ office. The case landed Mr. Trump and other defendants from his company a nearly $500 million fraud liability, which they are appealing. The trial became a staging ground for an effort that would permeate his presidential campaign and first weeks in office: vilification of judges who cross Mr. Trump.
Inside the courtroom, Habba, other lawyers and Mr. Trump himself seethed at what they claimed were unfair decisions by the judge. Outside, to gathered cameras, the perceived injustices became a rallying call for a nascent presidential campaign still months away from its first primary. Mr. Trump, Habba and others would rage against the magistrate.
Habba’s work during the trial also included perhaps the most important cross-examination of her career: a withering, hours-long questioning of Mr. Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen. Mr. Trump was on hand to watch the show, as was James, as well as defense attorneys and Manhattan prosecutors set to spar months later in Mr. Trump’s 2024 criminal trial.
In a series of tense and testy exchanges, Habba got the former attorney to admit to lying under oath on multiple occasions. A member of Mr. Trump’s legal team later told CBS News they believed Habba’s work in the civil fraud case had buoyed their cause in the criminal matter.
Christopher Kise, a former solicitor general of Florida who led Mr. Trump’s team during the fraud case, lauded Habba on Monday. Like Habba and others who have worked for Mr. Trump, Kise highlighted conservatives’ claim that there was a “weaponization” of the courts against Mr. Trump during the four years between his terms in office.
“Alina will be a zealous and tireless advocate for justice in the District of New Jersey and help ensure the focus is on fighting crime and protecting families instead of the weaponized practices of the prior administration,” Kise said. “She has time and again proven her ability to take on major issues and to persevere under intense and challenging circumstances.”
While working for Mr. Trump, Habba weathered significant losses without losing her place in his inner circle. The fraud judgment came within weeks of an $83 million hit when a civil federal jury found Mr. Trump liable for defamation against the writer E. Jean Carroll.
Mr. Trump attended that trial as well. He and Habba chafed at yet another judge, insinuating inside the courtroom and declaring outside to reporters that they were being treated unfairly.
By the spring of 2024, Mr. Trump’s campaign was intrinsically tied to his time in court. The rhythm of his seven-week criminal trial in New York included daily visits to a gaggle of cameras, just outside the courtroom doors, where Mr. Trump and others sought to highlight what they saw as a “rigged” campaign against him.
Habba wasn’t a part of Mr. Trump’s defense team, but she was a mainstay in the front row of the gallery. When the verdict was read, Habba and Mr. Trump’s son Eric were the only people other than Secret Service in that row. All other staff and friends of the former and future president sat behind.
After Mr. Trump became the first former or future president to be convicted of felonies — a verdict he is appealing — Habba started appearing on the campaign trail, becoming a near-constant presence advocating for Mr. Trump on television and on the stage.
In December, Mr. Trump announced Habba as counselor to the president. She said Monday she would be leaving the White House to serve in New Jersey.
The new job represents a homecoming for Habba, whose eponymous former law firm, Habba Madaio & Associates LLP, is based in Bedminster, New Jersey, just a few miles from one of the president’s golf courses.
It was at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster where the two first became acquainted. Mr. Trump went through scores of lawyers in the years since, but few have had Habba’s staying power.
Those years brought Habba from her firm of fewer than half a dozen attorneys to the White House. Now she returns to New Jersey where she’ll lead an office of some 150 prosecutors.
