2-minute read
Watch: Alina Habba, lawyer and advisor to Donald Trump, speaks at RNC
Alina Habba, campaign advisor to former President Trump, addressed the crowd at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
WOODLAND PARK, NJ – Two of New Jersey’s top ranking Democrats are in the crosshairs of the acting U.S. attorney for the Garden State.
Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said on Fox News Thursday night that she has instructed her office to open an investigation into New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and state Attorney General Matt Platkin for not cooperating with federal immigration authorities, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I want it to be a warning for everybody that I have instructed my office today to open an investigation into Gov. Murphy, to open an investigation into Attorney General Platkin, who has also instructed the state police not to assist any of our federal, and they list our federal agencies that are under my direction,” Habba said during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s show.
Habba said that will “no longer stand” and federal Attorney General Pam Bondi as well as President Donald Trump have “made it clear that we are to take all criminals, violent criminals, out of this country and completely enforce federal law.”
She went on to say the action is “not political” but “simply against crime” and if anyone in New Jersey gets in the way of that they will be charges “for obstruction, for concealment, and I will come after them hard.”
How did NJ officials react?
At an unrelated press conference on Friday morning, Platkin noted that New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which appears to be the basis for Habba’s potential investigation is “settled law that’s been upheld by judges appointed by President Trump.”
“I don’t typically launch investigations on cable news networks,” Platkin said. “I’m focused on doing my job, which is to keep the residents of our state safe.”
He went on to say that he has reached out to Habba in multiple ways but she “has not wanted to have conversation” and that Habba “said publicly she wants to politicize the office. I hope she starts doing her job.”
The directive says that state and local police cannot participate in federal immigration enforcement operations or keep someone detained only to comply with a civil immigration detainer request. The directive includes exemptions if the immigrant is charged or convicted with a “violent or serious offense” or subject to a final order of removal by a judge.
Who is Alina Habba?
Habba was appointed by Trump last month. Before that she had served as his longtime personal attorney and a legal adviser to his campaign
She is a New Jersey native and gained national attention while representing him in several civil and criminal cases, including his legal battles with New York Attorney General Letitia James and writer E. Jean Carroll. In 2023, she was named counsel to Trump’s Save America PAC and later joined his inner legal circle as “counselor to the president.”
When she was appointed, Murphy wished her well and said she “seems like a very significant talent” and that it is “historically a nonpartisan position, so I’m expecting and assume she’ll continue that tradition.”
Federal authorities have been conducting raids in search of criminal immigrants since Trump took office including in Newark, New Jersey.
Among the individuals deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration was a Maryland father named Kilmar Abrego Garcia, even though he had won an earlier protective order barring his expulsion.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Justice Department to begin the process of releasing him yesterday. The Trump administration contends he is a member of the MS-13 gang, although it has presented no evidence to back up that claim.
Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: [email protected]