President Donald Trump’s attempts to install a loyalist in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey have sewn chaos in the criminal court system, according to a new report.
Politico reported Monday that Trump’s attempts to place his former attorney, Alina Habba, in the New Jersey prosecutor’s office threaten to upend up to 1,500 criminal cases. Desiree Leigh Grace, a career prosecutor who the New Jersey courts selected to fill the seat after Habba’s temporary role had concluded, is listed as the counsel of record for “several dozen” active cases, according to the outlet.
The efforts to replace Grace have drawn the office’s legal authority into question, which some lawyers are already trying to exploit.
For example, attorney Thomas Mirigliano recently argued in a court filing that his client is “facing an imminent criminal trial proceeding under questionable legal authority,” Politico reported.
“I got the idea over the weekend because my trial was imminent and I thought it was an important issue that needed to be litigated,” Mirigliano told the outlet.
The New Jersey prosecutor’s office has also had to delay at least one case because of the chaos, Politico reported.
Trump has sought to install loyalists throughout his second administration. For example, he installed one of his impeachment defense lawyers, Pam Bondi, as the Attorney General. He also has one of his criminal defense lawyers, Emil Bove, placed at the Department of Justice and is now trying to elevate him to a lifetime seat on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.