A federal judge has dealt another blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to pack the Justice Department with political allies.
Judge Matthew Brann issued a sweeping 130-page ruling against Attorney General Pam Bondi’s unconventional move to install a three-person leadership panel (dubbed a “triumvirate”) to oversee the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. The arrangement came after Alina Habba, a Trump confidante and former personal attorney, lost her interim appointment. The maneuver was a deliberate workaround to avoid the Senate confirmation process and preserve loyalist control over the office.
Brann was withering in his assessment. He dismissed the administration’s legal rationale as a “rhetorical smokescreen” and noted that Trump and his inner circle have shown open impatience with constitutional guardrails.
The consequences, the judge cautioned, could extend far beyond politics. Should the administration continue flouting the law, the integrity of active criminal cases in the district may be compromised potentially giving defendants grounds to challenge or overturn their convictions entirely.
In other words, the drive to reward allies over experienced prosecutors isn’t just a governance problem. It could become a get-out-of-jail card for the very criminals the Justice Department exists to prosecute.
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