President Donald Trump’s U.S. attorney in Delaware resigned after a ruling finding Alina Habba was serving unlawfully as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware Julianne Murray submitted her resignation on Friday in a public statement that began by defending her record and maintaining that she did not serve political interests in her position.
“I naively believed that I would be judged on my performance and not politics. Unfortunately, that was not the case,” Murray wrote, blaming the “highly politicized, flawed blue slip tradition” for cutting her interim tenure short.
“Senator Coons and Senator Blunt Rochester refused to return a blue slip for political reasons, not performance reasons,” she added. “This is not about advice and consent. Because of this incredibly flawed tradition, I wasn’t even considered by the Judiciary Committee, let alone the entire Senate.”
Murray, the former chairwoman of the Delaware Republican Party, then cited the ruling that triggered Habba’s stepping down as a reason for her resignation, arguing it was necessary for the maintenance of the rule of law.
“Stability and protecting the integrity of our investigations is my only focus. I cannot in good conscience allow my office to become a political football. The employees of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware are dedicated, hard-working people that should be able to do their work without this distraction,” she wrote, before endorsing her successor, Ben Wallace, as “the only person” she would want in her role if she is unable to be in it.
Murray said she would continue to serve the Justice Department in a different position, then ended with a note of defiance.
“The people that think they have chased me away will soon find out that they are mistaken,” Murray concluded. “I did not get here by being a shrinking violet. God has a plan, and my faith gives me the comfort that I do not need to know what that plan is. Onward.”
TRUMP COMPLAINS HE CAN’T ‘APPOINT ANYBODY’ AFTER HABBA RESIGNS AS ACTING US ATTORNEY
The “blue slip” practice for judicial nominees has caused a significant headache for Trump, and he has repeatedly called for Congress to abolish it. Republicans have so far given rare resistance to Trump’s wishes, with Senate Republicans siding with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who has been a strong defender of the century-old unofficial rule.
The Senate Judiciary Committee does not advance certain nominees unless both senators from the state of the appointment return a blue slip in favor of the nominee. With Democrats steadfastly against nominees who have little prosecutorial experience or are perceived as loyalists, Trump has tried to appoint his picks to acting terms that quickly expire. Attempts to stay past their deadline have been dealt a critical blow in the courts, recently resulting in the resignation of Habba.
