On Monday, Judge Zahid Quraishi threw out a government attorney after blaming the administration for “operating unlawfully.” Quraishi also questioned Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosenblum about the leadership of his office, as reported by The Washington Times.
This happened after a judge ruled the Trump administration’s decision to replace Attorney Alina Habba with three officials as illegal. They ruled it was a violation of the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, as mentioned by Associated Press.
The scene unfolded during the sentencing of a man convicted of child sex offenses, when Quraishi told prosecutor Mark Coyne to leave. Quraishi became frustrated, as stated by The New York Times, because Coyne did not formally ask before he accompanied Rosenblum.
During Monday ‘s hearing, Judge Zahid Quraishi interrogated a junior prosecutor about whether the former interim U.S. attorney, Alina Habba, still had some role in operating the office, and ejected the New Jersey office’s head of appeals, Mark Coyne, from the courtroom. https://t.co/FcLcxwn8cY
— Shlomo Schorr (@OneJerseySchorr) March 17, 2026
According to the New York Post, Quraishi had questioned Coyne, “Are you here for moral support? Because you’re not going to speak,” adding, “If you want to sit there for moral support or hand Mr. Rosenblum Post-its or whisper in his ear, I’ll let you do that.”
But when Coyne interjected repeatedly, Quraishi stated, “I’m directing the court security officers to remove Mr. Coyne. Mr. Coyne, I told you not to address this court. You didn’t file a notice of appearance. You don’t get to blindside this court. I’m going to ask you to leave … or I’ll have you removed,” as reported by New Republic.
Quraishi grilled Rosenblum over how his office has been run ever since Habba resigned in December. Usually, the president selects the attorneys, who then get approved by the Senate, but that did not happen with Habba. She came as the “acting U.S. attorney,” most likely to bypass the long route.
The New York Post reported that many judges tried to appoint their picks, but the Department of Justice expelled them. They then selected some of their own people, with Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox, and Ari Fontecchio running the office.
However, this three-person leadership structure was unusual.
Quraishi later implied that such confusion had led to the accused’s plea deal being poorly prepared. He had pleaded guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), for which the prosecutors recommended 7 to 9 years in prison.
But later, federal investigators found many other disturbing elements in his possession.
Quraishi then stressed, “The FBI was still searching the devices that you executed a search warrant on. You executed a plea agreement, and later the FBI told you, ‘Hey, there’s a bunch of babies in this device. There’s a bunch of prepubescent children committing sexual acts.’ You saw all that, right?”
He then questioned, “How did the screw-up happen?”
Following this, Quraishi stopped the hearing until the three lawyers testified on who was leading their department.
Alina Habba resigns from U.S. attorney’s office after court found her appointment unlawful https://t.co/VIOAXcasLg
— CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) December 9, 2025
Chad Gilmartin, a DOJ spokesperson, issued a statement as reported by The Washington Times:
“Unfortunately, some judges are more interested in courtroom theatrics and constitutional overreach than promoting public safety. It is an especially troubling moment when a court chooses to sideline a case involving child exploitation.”
