“Terrifying”: Trump’s Fury at Foes Darkens amid New Alina Habba Threat | The New Republic
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“Terrifying”: Trump’s Fury at Foes Darkens amid New Alina Habba Threat

As Donald Trump escalates the lawlessness with the help of henchwoman Alina Habba, a sharp legal observer explains why all this suggests the rule of law is on a knife’s edge—and what we must do about it.

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Alina Habba, now interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, with Donald Trump in New York, September 6, 2024

After President Trump raged for weeks at law firms he regards as personal enemies, a number of them just surrendered to him like falling dominoes. That Trump boasted about this on social media so conspicuously represents a dark turn: He’s warning anyone mulling resistance that it’s time to capitulate. Meanwhile, Alina Habba, a loyal Trump henchwoman who is now interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, launched investigations into the state’s governor and attorney general, lodging a dark threat of more to come for those who won’t do Trump’s bidding. We talked to law professor Leah Litman, author of Lawless, a new book about the Supreme Court. She reflects on whether our institutions are folding in the face of Trump’s escalating abuses, which she calls “terrifying,” and what must happen now to prevent the destruction of the rule of law in America. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.