Federal Prosecutor Launches Probes of New Jersey Governor, Attorney General

The investigations follow reports that the Democratic leaders ordered state police not to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Alina Habba, next to husband Gregg Reuben, is sworn in by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, in the Oval Office on March 28, 2025. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey has opened investigations into the state’s governor and attorney general for allegedly refusing to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

“I want it to be a warning for everybody that I have instructed my office today to open an investigation into Gov. [Phil ] Murphy, to open an investigation into Attorney General [Matthew] Platkin, who has also instructed the state police not to assist any of our federal … agencies that are under my direction,” acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced on April 10 during an appearance on Fox News.

“Pam Bondi has made it clear, and so has our president, that we are to take all … violent criminals and criminals out of this country and to completely enforce federal law. And anybody who does get … in the way of what we are doing—which is not political, it is simply against crime—will be charged in the state of New Jersey for obstruction, for concealment, and I will come after them hard.”

Habba’s announcement followed media reports that the Democratic leaders instructed New Jersey State Police and public safety communications personnel to take no action on some 27,000 immigration warrants that were recently added to an FBI database.

Habba noted that the administrative warrants were issued by courts after due process.

“[The illegal immigrants] have gone through the court system. They are to be deported,” she said, decrying the leaders’ alleged defiance of federal laws and regulations.

Murphy did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

A spokesperson for Platkin pointed to his comments at an earlier press conference.

“Look, I’m focused on doing my job, which is to keep the residents of our state safe,” Platkin told reporters when asked about the investigations. He said New Jersey’s other law enforcement officers would do the same.

“I know the interim U.S. attorney. She hasn’t been there that long. She said publicly she wants to politicize the office. I hope she starts doing her job,” he added.

Habba, a New Jersey native, is a top adviser and former personal attorney for President Donald Trump. She was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney on March 28, four days after the president announced her appointment in a Truth Social post.

“Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey,” Trump wrote at the time.

Habba’s appointment came amid Trump’s nomination of her predecessor, John Giordano, to the role of U.S. ambassador to Namibia. She has promised a crackdown on corruption, injustice, and “a heavy amount of crime”—problems she attributes to Democratic leadership.

“If you look at what happened in crime, what’s going on in Newark, what’s going on in Camden, this has been a neglected state,” Habba told reporters on March 24.

“It is one of the most populated states for its size, and it needs to stop. We’re going to do a bang-up job. I cannot wait. It’s a great honor.”