Judge throws prosecutor out of court and orders leaders of NJ’s US Attorney’s office to testify
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A judge upset with the Justice Department’s chaotic oversight of federal investigations in New Jersey removed a government lawyer from a hearing Monday and ordered three officials in charge of the state’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to answer his questions under oath.
U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Kuraishi fired back at prosecutors last week after another judge ruled that the Trump administration’s decision to replace interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba with a trio of officials was another violation of the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which requires Senate confirmation.
Officials Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox and Ari Fontecchio remained in office pending appeal.
Quraysh questioned Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosenblum about his office’s current management structure and whether Habba, the Justice Department senior counsel, had any role in running the office, which he denied.
When Rosenblum’s supervising attorney intervened, Qureshi accused him of trying to “blind” the court and ordered him to leave or risk being removed by court security guards.
A judge expressed disappointment as he prepared to sentence a man for possessing child sexual abuse material; that case was compromised by a “sloppy investigation” and the U.S. attorney’s office’s rush to reach a plea deal, he said. It was decided to postpone the sentence.
“You have lost the trust and confidence of this Court,” Kuraishi told Rosenblum during the tense 22-minute hearing. “You have lost the trust and confidence of the New Jersey legal community, and you are losing the trust and confidence of the public.”
New York Times quoted the judge’s words and posted a transcript of the transaction on its website.
Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin told the Times: “Unfortunately, some judges are more interested in courtroom theatrics and constitutional excesses than in promoting public safety. It is a particularly troubling moment when a court chooses to bypass a case involving child abuse.”
Referred to by the judge and in court records as a “triumvirate,” Lamparello, Fox and Fontecchio remained in office because the judge who barred them, Matthew Brann, halted the order from taking effect immediately to give the government time to appeal.
But Brann wrote in his 130-page opinion: “Withdrawal cannot validate an unlawful appointment” and “If the government chooses to leave the triumvirate in place, it does so at its own risk.”
“That’s your risk. That’s your risk,” said Qureshi, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2021.
The judge said he did not believe Rosenblum’s claim that Lamparello, Fox and Fontecchio were still in office and that no one else, like Habba, was influencing the office’s decision-making.
Qureshi said he would not believe anything federal prosecutors told him until the three officials testified before him May 4 in Trenton. If the answers are unsatisfactory, the judge said he could subpoena Habba and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Justice Department’s second-in-command, to testify.
Kuraishi was on edge from the start of Monday’s hearing and faulted Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Coyne for appearing in court without prior notice and repeatedly interrupting him without permission.
“I won’t be hearing from you, Mr. Coyne. If you want to sit there for moral support or give Mr. Rosenblum Post-its or whisper in his ear, I’ll let you do that as chief,” Kuraishi said, before telling Coyne to leave.
The judge also questioned prosecutors’ decision to cut a plea deal with the defendant in the substantive child sexual abuse case before the FBI finished searching the defendant’s electronic devices. Qureshi said the plea agreement calls for a sentence that is “significantly lower” than what is prescribed under federal sentencing guidelines.
“It was a sloppy investigation where the FBI turned up a lot more child pornography that you couldn’t incriminate while you took a plea deal, and now you’re stuck with a plea deal because you’re stuck with it,” Kuraishi said.
