Judge appoints new US attorney in NJ after courts rejected Justice Department workarounds

By Kara Scannell, CNN

(CNN) — The chief district judge in New Jersey appointed Robert Frazer, a career prosecutor, to serve as US attorney for the state, ending for now a dispute over the legality of the office’s leadership that threatened to derail criminal investigations.

Frazer is a longtime prosecutor who has worked on violent crime organized crime cases.

Federal Judge Matthew Brann ruled last summer that Alina Habba — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer — was illegally appointed as the acting US attorney in the District of New Jersey. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.

Attorney General Pam Bondi later appointed a trio of attorneys to split Habba’s role: Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox and Ari Fontecchio.

Earlier this month, Brann found Bondi didn’t have the ability to create an alternative leadership structure in that way.

Chief Judge for the District of New Jersey Renee Marie Bumb signed the order appointing Frazer to the role.

Mark Coyne, chief of the appeals division at the US attorney’s office in New Jersey, informed Brann on Monday in a case used to challenge the previous leadership structure that Frazer’s appointment “followed consultations between the District Court and the Department of Justice’s senior leadership.”

Frazer, he said, has served as a prosecutor for more than 20 years and was most recently senior trial counsel.

Habba, who resigned as acting US attorney under after a federal appeals court found her appointment unlawful, praised Frazer’s appointment. She is now a senior adviser to Bondi.

“New Jersey deserves a great chief federal law enforcement official who is in line with President Trump’s agenda of making this country safe and NJ great! I know Rob well and he will be a great champion of this state and mission of the @TheJusticeDept,” Habba said on X. She praised the collaboration between judges, Bondi, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

This story is developing and will be updated.

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