Delaware replaces Trump’s U.S. attorney without legal drama seen in Jersey, Virginia

Sens. Coons, Blunt Rochester deemed Murray unqualified

Murray also acknowledged that she could not have obtained the post by the process outlined in the U.S. Constitution, in which a president makes a formal nomination and U.S. Senate confirmation is required.

That’s because part of that process is a longstanding tradition that requires the nominee to receive so-called “blue slip” endorsements by their state’s two U.S. senators.

Delaware’s two U.S. senators, Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester, are Democrats who interviewed Murray for the post. Coons said the duo decided Murray, who has done criminal defense work, didn’t have the prosecutorial experience to qualify as the state’s chief federal law enforcement official.

Although Murray accused the senators of playing politics with her unconventional appointment, Coons and Blunt Rochester disagreed.

“Any suggestion of political partiality throughout this process is misleading and blatantly false, said Taj Magruder, a spokesman for Blunt Rochester.

Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that considers nominees before they are considered by the full Senate, told WHYY News last month that Murray’s acting status was “probably illegal.”

After Colm Connolly, Delaware’s chief federal judge, issued the order naming Wallace, Coons said he’s pleased the judges exercised their lawful “power to appoint a U.S. attorney in the absence of a presidential nomination.”

Coons said he’s also relieved that the transition occurred without the rancor seen in New Jersey and the Eastern District of Virginia.

In Virginia, former Trump insurance lawyer Lindsay Halligan was ruled ineligible by a federal judge in her district because Bondi named her interim boss after the 120-day period to do so under federal law had expired.

Perhaps more importantly, the indictments Halligan obtained days after taking office against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Latisha James were dismissed. Bondi has pledged to appeal but has not yet done so.

Though Habba resigned after the adverse ruling in New Jersey, Halligan remains in her post in Virginia.

Other end-around maneuvers by Trump and Bondi have been deemed unlawful in Nevada, New Mexico and California, but those three remain under appeal.

“I’m just glad that we’ve avoided that level of drama here and that in Ben Wallace, we’ve got a court-appointed U.S. attorney who can keep the office moving forward in a constructive way,” Coons said.

Besides handling major crimes, “the district of Delaware handles some of our country’s most important patent litigation, corporate litigation, bankruptcy litigation,” Coons said.

“So it’s important for Delawareans and our constituents that we have a well-managed, disciplined, appropriate respect for the rule of law in how the federal courts here are handled and how the U.S. attorney’s office is led. And I’m relieved that we seem to have a path forward here that is appropriate.”

Law prof says Judge Connolly ‘navigated it as best he could’

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who tracks appointments of U.S. attorneys and federal judges, praised Connolly, a Republican and former U.S. attorney for Delaware, for his deft handling of the potentially volatile situation.

“He navigated it as best he could. He didn’t provoke a confrontation,” Tobias said of Connolly, who Trump appointed as a judge during his first presidential term, with the Senate’s approval. “And he deserves a lot of credit for keeping the courts moving.”

Prior to Friday’s order, Connolly had publicly sought applications for the post, writing that “the court would only appoint a person the court deems qualified for the position.”

That clearly wasn’t Murray. In his previous order in November, Connolly wrote that judges had decided not to name anyone to the post after Murray’s interim status expired Nov. 12.

That prompted Bondi to name her “acting” U.S. attorney and led U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, himself a former Trump personal attorney, to publicly rebuke Connolly on social media.