'Terrifying abuses of power': Judge hears arguments over leadership arrangement at New Jersey prosecutor's office
Source: Politico
01/23/2026 07:16 PM EST
NEWARK, New Jersey — A federal judge spent three hours on Friday hearing arguments about whether the Trump administration is illegally running the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office. After Trump loyalist Alina Habba stepped down in December, Attorney General Pam Bondi put three people in charge of running the prosecutor’s office.
Now the same judge who first ruled that Habba was serving illegally, Judge Matthew Brann of Pennsylvania’s Middle District, is considering the legality of what he called this “triumvirate of attorneys.” The arrangement has never been used before in American history.
“Shouldn’t that raise a red flag for this court?” Brann asked. During hours of questioning, he repeatedly tried to test the limits of Bondi’s power. Could this trio of attorneys serve indefinitely? If they could, wouldn’t this render the 93 U.S. attorneys’ offices superfluous? If Bondi can give away their powers, could she give away the powers of the FBI director to someone not confirmed by the Senate if there was a vacancy at the bureau?
If an attorney general could do that, could other Cabinet heads fill all the vacancies in their office that require Senate confirmation with people who have not been confirmed by the Senate? Mark Coyne, the chief of the appeals division in the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office, who was arguing on behalf of Bondi, declined repeated chances to acknowledge any limits.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/23/abuse-of-power-new-jersey-prosecutors-office-00745493