Northeast
Trump hit with setback as court rules Alina Habba unlawfully served as top federal prosecutor in New Jersey
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An appellate court found on Monday that Alina Habba is unlawfully serving as the top prosecutor in New Jersey, delivering a blow to President Donald Trump as he fights to keep his preferred nominees in charge of U.S. attorneys’ offices in blue states.
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit said in a unanimous order that a lower court was correct to disqualify Habba, a fiery Trump loyalist who previously served as the president’s personal defense lawyer.
The Trump administration’s argument would “effectively [permit] anyone to fill the U.S. Attorney role indefinitely,” the panel wrote, adding that “this should raise a red flag.”
The administration could ask for a full panel of 3rd Circuit judges to reconsider the decision, or it could turn to the Supreme Court to weigh in. Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice and a Habba spokesperson for comment.
TRUMP APPOINTS HABBA AS ‘ACTING’ US ATTORNEY AFTER JUDGES OUSTED HER
President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom with lawyers Christopher M. Kise and Alina Habba during his civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on Oct. 17, 2023, in New York City. (Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
The three-judge panel heard arguments on Habba’s appointment in October and grilled a DOJ lawyer over the unconventional way Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi reinstalled Habba as U.S. attorney after her initial, temporary appointment expired.
Habba is one of several names who became jammed up in court proceedings over allegations that Trump sidestepped the Senate and improperly exploited loopholes in federal vacancy laws to keep his preferred prosecutors in place.
Habba’s case was the furthest along in the court process, but Lindsey Halligan and Bill Essayli, temporary U.S. attorneys in Virginia and California, respectively, are among those also facing high-stakes court challenges to their appointments. A federal judge found last week that Halligan was unlawfully serving in her role, but the administration has vowed to appeal the decision.
The panel that heard Habba’s case comprised two appointees of former President George W. Bush and an appointee of former President Barack Obama.
TRUMP’S US ATTORNEYS IN BLUE STATES FACE LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT COULD UPEND KEY PROSECUTIONS
Alina Habba speaks during a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The judges had voiced skepticism of DOJ lawyer Henry Whitaker’s claims that Bondi had authority to fill the vacancy for the U.S. attorney of New Jersey after Trump fired the court-appointed one. Whitaker said the administration simply took advantage of “overlapping mechanisms” afforded to it by Congress.
“In this case, the executive branch admittedly took a series of precise and precisely timed steps not to evade or circumvent those mechanisms but rather to be scrupulously careful to comply with them,” Whitaker said.
One of the judges said during the oral arguments that he viewed Habba’s case as unusual and possibly unconstitutional.
“Would you concede that the sequence of events here, and for me, they’re unusual, would you concede that there are serious constitutional implications to your theory here, the government’s theory, which really is a complete circumvention, it seems, of the appointments clause?” the judge asked.
Veteran D.C. lawyer Abbe Lowell, known for his involvement in lawsuits challenging the Trump administration, represented the defendants contesting Habba’s appointment.
Two sets of defendants facing run-of-the-mill charges brought the challenge to Habba, saying she should not be allowed to prosecute them because she was an invalid U.S. attorney.
TRUMP NOMINEES SQUEEZED BETWEEN ‘BLUE SLIPS’ AND BLUE OBSTRUCTION
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks as President Donald Trump looks on during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Habba had no path to Senate confirmation, in part because New Jersey’s Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, did not approve of her through the Senate’s blue slip tradition.
That precedent has drawn Trump’s ire as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, stands firmly behind blue slips, which require home state senators to approve of U.S. attorney and district judge nominees.
Trump recently conveyed, through his firing of former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, that earning Democratic senators’ approval could be disqualifying in his view, setting up a stalemate with the upper chamber over his nominees in blue states.
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Maine
Amtrak train strikes, kills man in Old Orchard Beach, Maine
A 51-year-old man was fatally struck by an Amtrak train in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, on Thursday afternoon, and police believe alcohol was a factor.
Old Orchard Beach Police say they responded around 2:18 p.m. to the area of the railroad tracks located off from the roadway near 133 Temple Avenue. The victim, who had been struck by a train traveling northbound, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Information obtained from witnesses suggests the man was traveling alone and walking nearby the railroad tracks moments before being struck by the train, according to police, who didn’t say why they believe alcohol was a factor in the incident.
The victim’s name is being withheld pending further investigation and notification, with police saying only that he was from Old Orchard Beach.
Amtrak said in a statement obtained by NBC10 Boston affiliate News Center Maine that the individual was trespassing when he came into contact with the train.
Amtrak urged the public in its statement to stay off railroad property and use caution around railroad tracks and grade crossings, writing, “These incidents can affect everyone involved—those who are injured or die and their families, our train crews, and our passengers.”
There were no reported injuries among the 135 passengers and crew members abord the No. 683 train that was traveling from Boston to Brunswick until the incident happened on Thursday.
The added that preventing railroad incidents and fatalities is a priority for them. Amtrak is working with local authorities investigating this latest incident.
An investigation remains ongoing by the Old Orchard Beach Police Department, Amtrak Police and Saco Police Department, which responded to assist.
Massachusetts
Crash disupts traffic on Interstate 195 in Seekonk
A crash disrupted traffic on Interstate 195 west in Seekonk just before noon Friday.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said lanes were closed. Drivers should expect delays.
The crash was reported near exit 1.
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New Hampshire
A mom is thankful for Dismas Home – which is expanding recovery services to Rochester
On Tuesday morning a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tours ushered in what will be a new recovery home in Rochester.
Dismas Home started operating out of Manchester, but they’ve expanded their services to Rochester, soon offering 28 beds between the two cities. Cheryll Andrews, executive director of Dismas Home of New Hampshire, said the goal is to one day put a home in every county in the state.
“Our founder, Julie McCarthy Brown wants a home in every county before she passes away,” Andrews said.
Dismas Home offers women who have been involved with the criminal justice system evidence-based substance use treatment programs and helps them establish independent living. Women who participate in Dismas Home can stay up to 15 months. The home is also staffed 24/7 and offers mental, behavioral, and physical health support.
Andrews said there’s already a waitlist to get in. The home gets referrals from court systems, county and state jails, and defense attorneys. They require people fill out an application, where they are vetted before becoming accepted into the program.
Andrews said Dismas Home differs from other treatment facilities that may work only with women with children by allowing women who don’t have children or aren’t with them to attend their program.
“We don’t serve women with children, we serve [women] who want them back,” Andrews said.
Andrews said about 67% of the women who enter the program complete it and 90% of those that do stay sober for the long term.
Alacia Linville graduated from Dismas Home’s program in Manchester. She was homeless when she went to jail in Belknap County in 2019. She said she had been to jail before for short periods of time but this time she was in for eight months for the sale of methamphetamine.
“After about my third month in, I started to think I need an aftercare plan,” Linville said. “I had gone to treatments numerous times and none of them had worked.”
Linville said a case manager referred her to Dismas Home in Manchester where she ended up staying over 15 months, starting in 2020.
She said she was hesitant at first. Manchester was the city she was using in, she hadn’t tried an aftercare program before and she thought it would end up being more of a transactional situation but she said she was surprised to find they gave her the help she needed.
“The support, that was different this time,” Linville said. “I was used to going into programs, getting the support, getting out – I was homeless again.”
Linville moved to Hampton after her time at Dismas Home and stayed at Magnolia House as she addressed other charges she had from Rockingham court. She said Dismas Home helped her navigate dealing with them.
She said it feels good to say she’s been sober. She said she has been since 2023 but found recovery in 2019. It was a year into her sobriety that she said she felt she knew she could continue to do it.
She now lives with her 2-year-old daughter Jocelyn and fiance in Newmarket.
“I look at my family today and I just can’t imagine, like ever moving backwards,” Linville said.
Dismas Home in Rochester is expected to start housing women in early August. The home still needs to be licensed, furnishings need to be placed and some construction is still undergoing.
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