New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, Alina Habba, on Thursday said she would continue on in the position despite a judicial decision declining to extend her interim status and instead opting to replace her.
She doubled down in her first remarks since the decision, declaring that she is now the state’s acting U.S. attorney.
“Donald J. Trump is the 47th President. Pam Bondi is the Attorney General. And I am now the Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey,” Habba said in a statement posted to the social platform X. “I don’t cower to pressure. I don’t answer to politics. This is a fight for justice. And I’m all in.”
A Justice Department official said that Trump withdrew her nomination to be the state’s U.S. attorney and she was appointed first assistant U.S. attorney, meaning she becomes acting U.S. attorney because the position is now vacant.
The announcement comes hours after Desiree Grace, the attorney tapped by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey judges to succeed Habba, said she was prepared to assume the role, elevating the standoff to new heights.