Breaking: Trump Taps Parking Garage Lawyer & Influencer As US Attorney

Summary

Bulwark Takes: Breaking – Trump Taps Parking Garage Lawyer & Influencer As US Attorney

Release Date: March 24, 2025

In this episode of Bulwark Takes, hosts Tim Miller and Sam Stein delve into the startling announcement from former President Donald Trump, who has appointed Alina Haba, a relatively inexperienced lawyer known for her role as Trump's spokesperson, as the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. The hosts unpack the implications of this appointment, scrutinize Haba's qualifications, and discuss the potential impact on the New Jersey District Attorney's office and the broader U.S. legal system.

1. Breaking News Announcement

Tim Miller opens the episode at [00:00], highlighting the unexpected nature of Trump's appointment:

"From Donald Trump's Bleet. He announces this. It is with great pleasure that I'm announcing Alina Haba, Esquire, who is currently serving as counselor to the president that has represented me for a long time, will be interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, her home state, effective immediately." (00:00)

2. Alina Haba’s Official Statement

Alina Haba addresses the appointment, emphasizing her dedication to combating corruption and crime:

"As you know, I've stood by President Trump, his family, the organization, and many other clients in that state where I've been born and raised, and I'm raising my babies now. But there is corruption, there is injustice, and there is a heavy amount of crime right in Cory Booker's backyard and right under Governor Murphy. And that will stop." (00:35)

3. Initial Reactions and Shock

Tim Miller expresses disbelief at Haba's appointment, questioning her suitability for such a pivotal role:

"This is insane. Can you imagine being a lawyer at the District of New Jersey's prosecutor's office? Like this person is about to be your boss." (00:53)

4. Assessing Alina Haba’s Credentials

Sam Stein examines Haba’s professional background, revealing limited prosecutorial experience:

"She had three cases as lead counsel during her time practicing law in New Jersey. She was also licensed in New York and Connecticut." (03:50)

Tim Miller further critiques her qualifications:

"That's not really a very extensive resume for this job. It's not the traditional resume... this is like a cereal box level, like, law degree." (05:03)

5. The Role of a U.S. Attorney

Tim Miller underscores the gravity of the U.S. Attorney position, emphasizing the responsibility and potential consequences of such an appointment:

"Being U.S. attorney is an extremely real and important job. You are in charge of making judgments about who to prosecute, who not to prosecute." (02:49)

6. Potential Impact on the New Jersey DA’s Office

The hosts discuss how Haba’s appointment could shift the focus of the District Attorney’s office from handling serious crimes to politically motivated cases:

Sam Stein warns:

"This is the weaponization of very serious offices for the purposes of benefiting one client. Not the United States, the President of the United States. And it's scary stuff." (05:39)

Tim Miller illustrates the contrast by referencing recent serious cases handled by the New Jersey DA’s office:

"Here's the New Jersey District Attorney's office... There’s firearms trafficking, narcotics offenses, healthcare fraud, etc. Putting a parking garage lawyer in charge of that with no experience is preposterous and anti law and order." (06:23)

7. Broader Implications for the Legal System

The appointment is seen as part of a larger trend of politicizing the legal system, undermining the independence and effectiveness of prosecutorial offices:

Sam Stein elaborates:

"She’s going there to do cases that can help Trump and go after people that Trump opposes. This is the weaponization of very serious offices..." (05:39)

Tim Miller adds:

"The entire legal system has been upended by this distortion and perversion of what justice should be." (07:38)

8. Personal Ramifications and Brain Drain

Tim Miller shares personal anecdotes about the negative impact of such appointments on qualified legal professionals:

"Somebody really close to me was supposed to get a job in a U.S. attorney's office... they're just like, no, we're canceling out all the people that we're bringing in. We want to bring in people who are aligned for Mr. Trump." (08:39)

He continues with another example of internal unrest within DA offices:

"They're really worried about this. They're like, I have to look for another job because they're going to reorient me to what you just said." (08:39)

9. Call to Action

In response to the alarming developments, Sam Stein and Tim Miller urge listeners with pertinent information to come forward:

"If you're in the office, we have a tips line." (10:02)

"We do have a tips on the bulwark.com tips if you're in the New Jersey District Attorney's office." (10:07)

10. Conclusion

The hosts conclude by emphasizing the critical nature of maintaining an independent and effective legal system, free from political manipulation. They express deep concern over the appointment of Alina Haba and the broader implications it holds for justice and law enforcement in the United States.

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Notable Quotes:

• Tim Miller on the seriousness of the U.S. Attorney role:
  "You have the power of the government behind you. You can create a lot of problems in people's lives." (02:49)

• Sam Stein on the weaponization of legal offices:
  "This is the weaponization of very serious offices for the purposes of benefiting one client." (05:39)

• Tim Miller on the impact on the legal system:
  "The entire legal system has been upended by this distortion and perversion of what justice should be." (07:38)

This episode of Bulwark Takes serves as a critical examination of a controversial appointment that could reshape the landscape of legal prosecution in one of the country’s key districts. Tim Miller and Sam Stein provide a thorough analysis, highlighting the potential dangers and long-term consequences of politicizing prosecutorial roles within the U.S. justice system.

Transcript

[Tim Miller]

Hey, guys, it's Tim Miller and Sam Stein from the Bulwark here. We had a funny video for you coming and I'll be here later today. But right as we sat down to do it, we have a breaking news item that we got to work through with you guys. Here it is. From Donald Trump's Bleet. He announces this. It is with great pleasure that I'm announcing Alina Haba, Esquire, who is currently serving as counselor, who is currently serving as counselor to the president that has represented me for a long time, will be interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, her home state, effective immediately.

[Alina Haba]

As you know, I've stood by President Trump, his family, the organization, and many other clients in that state where I've been born and raised, and I'm raising my babies now. But there is corruption, there is injustice, and there is a heavy amount of crime right in Cory Booker's backyard and right under Governor Murphy. And that will stop.

[Tim Miller]

This is, is insane. Can you imagine being a lawyer at the, at the District of New Jersey's prosecutor's office? Like this person is about to be the. Your boss. We're going to go through her resume for this job in a second. But, Sam, what do you make of.

[Sam Stein]

I'm still reading the Bleak, and it says, additionally, John Giordano, who has done a terrific job as interim youth attorney in New Jersey, will now be nominated as the new ambassador to Namibia. That was a little curveball at the end there. Congratulations, John. Alina, let's start with that. I'm like, I'm kind of speechless. She is best known as his spokesperson. She said she was counsel on these things, but let's be real, her job was not to. Her job was to go in front of the cameras.

[Tim Miller]

She was the TV lawyer, she was the TV lawyer. I mean, he was the TV businessman. So it fits.

[Sam Stein]

And I just want to. Like, when she was working as Trump's attorney, people were like, kind of shocked that he would hire her and wondering why he hired her because.

[Tim Miller]

Were people wondering why? Well, I think everybody had a pretty good sense for why. I mean, she looks the part, you.

[Sam Stein]

Can say that, you can say that, uh, she was a member, I guess, of the Trump National Golf Club at Bedminster, which was an eight minute drive from her law firm. So, you know, he went and got the best and the brightest from a 10 mile radius. And look, she's not, she's not the most experienced attorney, but this is the type of stuff that she's going to bring to the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey, which is, mind you, a very important office. Tons of cases. Getting there. Financial cases, terrorism cases, Serious stuff. Mob cases. Like real stuff.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah. Just really quick, as an aside, let's just do this. Let's sit on this for a second. Being U.S. attorney is an extremely real and important job. You are in charge of making judgments about who to prosecute, who not to prosecute. You have the power of the government behind you. You can create a lot of problems in people's lives. It is critical that you are very serious about the way that cases are presented, you know, because real criminals could get left on the streets. If you, if you follow it up. I mean, like, this is not, you know, this is not the Department of Commerce.

[Sam Stein]

I'm going to go through some of her legal accomplishments prior to this moment, prior to her representation of Trump, because that's really what matters here. I'm again, I'm judging off of Wikipedia, so forgive me, but we're doing this on short turnaround, but this is what they have here. She had three cases as lead counsel during her time practicing law in New Jersey. She was also licensed in New York and Connecticut.

[Tim Miller]

Three cases.

[Sam Stein]

3 cases. 1. She also held the position of general counsel for her second husband's parking garage company.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah. Okay, so she was the general counsel for the parking garage company. Yeah.

[Sam Stein]

All right. So she represented clients in various cases, including a man who sued a nursing home in New Jersey. Important. A student seeking a refund for college tuition from the. After the University of Bridgeport moved classes to an online format. Not that big.

[Tim Miller]

That's kind of like a Judge Judy, like, level.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, it's like, I got this client. He wants some, you know, course accreditation. She represented Siggy Flicker, former member of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, who alleged that Facebook had disabled her account for wishing Melania Trump a happy birthday. Haba wrote a letter to Facebook, which Facebook appeared to ignore. Dear God. And then she represented someone who was a vitamin supplement entrepreneur in a federal case where she filed a lawsuit against a Portuguese journalist for revealing his close connections to the far right. Chega party in Portugal. That's it. That's what we got. And then she represented Trump.

[Tim Miller]

It was not New Jersey. It was sdny.

[Sam Stein]

That.

[Tim Miller]

I mean, that is. That's not really a very extensive resume for this job. It's not the traditional resume. I need this to say. Usually you would have people that have prosecutorial experience as the U.S. attorney. I mean, there are some exceptions to this. Usually you would want somebody that has, you know, knows how to prosecute a case. If you're a high level defense attorney. Right. Who has been in a lot of criminal cases, you know, maybe that is like, this is not that. This is a fucking parking garage lawyer. I mean, she literally. This is like a cereal box level, like, law degree.

[Sam Stein]

Again, I want to go back to your initial point. This is serious. Like, these are serious offices and they've already kind of desecrated one of these offices, the. The District Attorney's office in. In D.C. by hiring Eagle Ed Martin, who is like out there, like, you know, basically saying, I'm Trump's lawyer and I'll do what Trump wants. I mean, this is what she's going to do. I mean, this is a serious matter. She. Because she literally is Trump's lawyer, she's not going there to uphold the independence of the Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey. She's going there to do cases that can help Trump and go after people that Trump opposes. This is the weaponization of very serious offices for the purposes of benefiting one client. Not the United States, the President of the United States. And it's scary stuff.

[Tim Miller]

Honestly, this is the craziest part. Like, these are supposed to be the law and order people, right? Like, and to put Ed Martin in. In charge of D.C. when the D.C. attorney is in charge of all of the crime that happens in D.C. like I thought, but instead he's like sending letters to Georgetown University because they did DEI and stuff is gonna fall through the cracks. I just pulled this up. Here's the New Jersey District Attorney's office. Like some recent press releases they've put out about what they're doing. There's an Essex county man that was doing firearms trafficking and narcotics offenses. New Jersey Pain Clinic was doing healthcare fraud and had to agree to criminal and civil penalties. Illegally importing harmful greenhouse gases into the US An H Vac company. Obviously we're not gonna be prosecuting that any anymore with this administration. Bank fraud and conspiracy to rob US Post office employees, hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the United States illegally. Gun possession. This office prosecutes real criminals that do real harm to the country. Putting a fucking parking garage lawyer in charge of that with no experience doing this is preposterous and it is anti law and order. And it's dangerous.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah. And what's going to happen is she's going to reorient the entire office. Anyone who she determines.

[Tim Miller]

Tesla vandals. Watch out.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, pretty much. I mean, that's a line, but I wouldn't be.

[Tim Miller]

No, I'M serious.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, it's going to be all Tesla vandals and going after people who she suspects are harboring undocumented immigrants.

[Tim Miller]

Election fraud.

[Sam Stein]

Maybe an election fraud. And we're going to end up seeing a bunch of kind of phony, ish investigations launched that have political motivations. The serious attorneys at the front lines probably will get reassigned to lower level cases. And she's just going to do what Ed Martin has done, which is take on the idea that you're there to help Donald Trump. And so, you know, I don't even know what to say at this juncture because the entire legal system is being upended and it's only been a matter of months, but the entire legal system has been upended by this distortion and perversion of what justice should be.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah. So you've been on the brain drain element of this. But just one last thought on this for me. Just because I have two tangible examples, I want to anonymize these people. But in one case, somebody really close to me was supposed to get a job in a U.S. attorney's office, not New Jersey. But, you know, they were qualified, they had the experience, serious, the type of person that you would want working for the government. But when they had the transition, they're just like, no, we're canceling out all the people that we're bringing in. We want to bring in people who are aligned for Mr. Trump. Right. Okay. So that's one example. Another example is somebody who is in one of these jobs in a district attorney's office who they have not announced who the new attorney will be for that district yet, but they're really worried about this. They're like, I have to look for another job because they're going to reorient me to what you just said. Like, I'm going to be doing all entirely undocumented immigrant crimes. Like the type of person that's doing also serious, high level, like white collar and drug crimes. I don't know that I want to, you know, do spend my whole life, like prosecuting the random, you know, person that overstayed their visa. And so I just like there will be like real ramifications on that side of this too.

[Sam Stein]

Not totally. Couldn't agree more. If you're in the office, we have a tips line.

[Tim Miller]

We do have a tips on the bulwark.com tips if you're in the New Jersey District Attorney's office.

[Sam Stein]

All right, we can leave it there.