Top Trump DOJ prosecutor under investigation for possible hush money scheme

Alina Habba, the former defense attorney for President Donald Trump currently serving as his top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, has been under professional investigation for a year in a matter that could strip her license to practice law, NOTUS reported Thursday.

The issue stems from a widely-reported incident in which Alice Bianco, a waitress at Trump's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, reported sexual harassment by a fellow employee. Habba allegedly posed as an outside attorney advising her to accept a $15,000 hush money deal, when in reality she was operating on behalf of Trump's club to minimize the amount they would have to pay out.

Habba, who also represented Trump as a private citizen in various matters before he was elected, paid an undisclosed amount of money to Bianco to settle the matter last year, but it didn't end her legal troubles.

"The New Jersey Supreme Court’s Office of Attorney Ethics has been looking into allegations that Habba mistreated the employee — becoming her lawyer only to convince her to accept a hush money deal for a paltry sum, all to ingratiate herself with Trump," NOTUS wrote. "The complaint closely adheres to allegations already made in state court — with a complaint backed by dozens of text messages — that Habba befriended Alice Bianco in the summer of 2021 when the 21-year-old waitress had just found an employment lawyer to file a sexual harassment lawsuit. Text messages show that Habba privately disparaged the other lawyer and offered herself up instead, drafting a $15,000 nondisclosure agreement."

Habba, since being appointed as U.S. attorney, has drawn repeated controversy for criminal prosecutions against Trump's political opponents.

Most notably, she filed charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), alleging that she forcibly impeded Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a protest at a private for-profit immigrant detention facility in Newark. The watchdog group Campaign for Accountability has issued an ethics complaint against Habba for this prosecution.