Alina Habba’s Jersey justice

Alina Habba, President Trump’s new United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, got her first major collar this week: Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, who Habba charged with assaulting, impeding or interfering with law enforcement after a scuffle outside an ICE facility got rowdy.

One of McIver’s Republican colleagues in Congress quipped to Cockburn that there are “so many Democrats breaking the law,” yet “so few US Attorneys ready to charge them for it.” Habba’s actions were predictably opposed by all Democrats in Congress, and may already be reshaping the governor’s race in Habba’s home state of New Jersey.

Where you sit on this issue determines whether you think McIver is guilty of assaulting ICE agents. Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are arguing that McIver’s unannounced and unauthorized visit to the ICE facility was nevertheless part of her official duties – and that the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause should shield her from arrest or prosecution. 

Jeffries called decisions to prosecute McIver or others involved in the melée a “red line.” Republicans argue that McIver crossed the red line herself. “McIver wasn’t conducting official Committee business,” a Homeland Security Committee GOP staffer explained. “Her visit wasn’t authorized by Chairman Green, nor was she conducting any legitimate ‘oversight’ on behalf of the Committee.”

While Habba’s arrest of McIver is by far her highest-profile to date, it is not the first time she has arrested a New Jersey-elected Democrat in her brief tenure. Following the protest at an ICE facility in early May, Habba arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka earlier this month. The misdemeanor charges against Baraka were ultimately dropped. But it seems likely that the attention earned by his arrest could prove helpful in his long-shot campaign for Governor of New Jersey. 

It’s unlikely that McIver will spend a day behind bars for her ICE-y altercation. But Habba’s lawyering has found her longtime fans in both Trump himself and the boys at Barstool Sports. “Should the need ever arise, I’ll do whatever it takes to hire this Valkyrie,” Jerry Thornton wrote years ago. “Whatever her rate is, it’ll be worth the billable hours.”

On our radar

BLUE TUESDAY President Trump is said to have sworn twice during talks with Republicans on the Hill this morning. “Don’t fuck around with Medicaid,” the President told lawmakers.

‘I THINK I’VE DONE ENOUGH’ Elon Musk, who is soon set to depart his role as White House senior advisor, expressed his intention to cut back on political spending.

BIDEN DIAGNOSIS Former president Joe Biden and his wife Jill thanked his followers “for lifting us up with love and support” after he revealed his cancer diagnosis this weekend.

Let’s go, Brandon?

Has Chicago’s unpopular Mayor received a lifeline from the Trump administration?

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s approval ratings consistently hover in the low single-digits, but the news that the Trump administration’s Department of Justice is investigating him could be the spark he needs to get a second lease on political life.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the DoJ’s Civil Rights Division, notified Johnson this week that she is investigating whether his office “engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination,” following remarks from Johnson in a church in which he boasted about the racial diversity of his office.

“Having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone, and everyone means you have to look out for the interests of black folks, because that hasn’t happened. That’s how we ensure long-term sustainable growth,” Johnson said at a church on Chicago’s South Side. 

But a high-profile legal fight with the Trump administration may be a boon for Johnson. Even though Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry a ward in the Windy City in living memory, the city can’t stand Trump or his namesake tower downtown. And despite Johnson’s myriad failures, he could use the feud to distract his constituents from th endless complaints they have about his first two years in office. 

Johnson’s top staff, including his deputy mayor, chief operations officer and budget director are all black, he told parishioners. To Dhillon, this reeks of potential racial discrimination. “If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question of whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions,” she wrote to him.

Dhillon’s move comes amid a broader war on both DEI efforts and on liberal mayors of big cities by President Trump and from Republicans in Congress. Johnson has regularly found himself on the receiving end of broadsides from both. 

Trump often inveighs against Chicago, and Republicans in Congress recently brought Johnson and several other mayors of sanctuary cities in to testify about the risks those policies pose to Americans. Despite this, Johnson currently faces no serious opposition for his 2027 reelection bid.

2017 all over again

A Democratic Congressman is trying, and probably failing, to impeach President Trump. James Comey is drawing fire for his disdain toward the President. And MAGA “loyalists” are hatching wild money-making schemes to attempt to cream off funds intended for Trump. What year is this, 2017?

Miles Morell, a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation, was fired after he co-hosted an event that billed itself as “the official celebration of President Trump’s first 100 days.” The actual celebration turned out to be more of a “MAGA Fyre Festival,” one organizer told the Bulwark’s Will Sommer.

The event description initially said it would take place at the Kennedy Center and have a white-tie dress code – and heavily suggested that members of the administration and Congress would be present. Instead, per the Bulwark, “McMillan told me that the Kennedy Center… called off the event because of a contract violation, but declined to specify what it was. The Kennedy Center didn’t respond to requests for comment about why the contract was canceled.” Trump held a rally in Michigan rather than go to Morell’s party – which relocated across the river to Arlington and was ill attended.

“The event wouldn’t be facing such negative coverage if expectations hadn’t been set so high,” one attendee told Cockburn. “It was promoted as a gathering of high-level guests and influential figures, but in reality, it felt more like a college mixer. I enjoyed it, but I’m sure the few boomers there were expecting Jim Jordan – not one of his interns.” The episode hearkens back to the “We Build the Wall Inc.” scandal of Trump 1.0 that left one former White House aide in need of a presidential pardon.

A message from Morell’s account, reading “fuck you whore,” was sent to a female photographer who dropped out from covering the event after it became apparent she  would not be paid for her services. If Morell wasn’t acclimatized to colorful language, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar told him to “fuck off” while he was on the job the following week. Who says politics needs cleaning up?

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