Judge Tosses DOJ Lawyer From Courtroom As New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office Descends Into Chaos

Every seasoned litigator knows sometimes you have a bad day in court, but this is really, really bad. Because whatever fresh hell is currently unfolding inside the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where the vibes are so rancid that a federal judge literally had a prosecutor shown the door mid-hearing, is off the charts.

At a sentencing hearing this Monday, Judge Zahid Quraishi had some questions about the utter chaos going on with the leadership of the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Enter Supervisory AUSA Mark Coyne, who was in the courtroom to support another prosecutor but, and this is key, had not filed a notice of appearance. Quraishi made it crystal clear that Coyne could sit there and pass notes like a middle schooler avoiding eye contact during algebra, but speaking was off-limits.

But since Above the Law is writing about it, you know he spoke anyway.

You see, Judge Quraishi was asking about the role of Alina Habba. You’ll recall Habba was installed as interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. And when her interim appointment expired, the court declined to bless any effort to make her permanent without that pesky constitutional step known as Senate confirmation. The Trump admin’s response? What if we just… call her something else? And made her Acting U.S. Attorney. But the vibes-based leadership role was also rejected by courts that determined Habba was illegally holding the position. But instead of, say, appointing someone legally and going through that Senate approval process, the powers that be pivoted to what can only be described as a three-raccoons-in-a-trench-coat approach to governance, installing Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox, and Ari Fontecchio as a trio that is now collectively running the office. Which… was also determined to be illegal by Judge Matthew Brann, sitting by appointment from the Middle District of Pennsylvania (though that decision was stayed, pending appeal).

That loaded history is what motivated Coyne to speak, despite being told not to. And the judge did *not* take kindly to having his instructions ignored. “You didn’t file a notice of appearance. You don’t get to blindside the court and do whatever it is you guys want to do,” Quraishi said. “So if you continue to speak, you can leave.”

Not taking the rebuke with grace, Coyne continued speaking.

The judge then called for security and instructed Coyne to leave. To his credit, Coyne eventually took the hint and exited without needing to be physically escorted out.

The judge didn’t just eject Coyne, but he made clear he has serious concerns about the legitimacy of the people running the office. He has now refused to proceed with sentencing until the leadership trio appears in court and explains themselves.

“They’re going to answer my questions about who is running the office and how,” Quraishi said.

And if that weren’t enough, Quraishi delivered a line that should make every career prosecutor in New Jersey want to crawl under their desks: “Generations of Assistant U.S. Attorneys had built the goodwill of that office for your generation to destroy it within a year.”

Oof.

The DOJ’s response to the debacle is a typical Trumpian nonstatement, saying prosecutors remain empowered to “aggressively enforce our nation’s laws and keep people safe.” You know, it’d probably be easier for NJ prosecutors to do that if the administration would actually put an appointee up for confirmation… like the Constitution requires.