In case against lawmaker, Justice Department shows readiness to act against Trump foes

By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The move by the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey to charge a Democratic U.S. congresswoman over a scuffle at an immigration detention center illustrated the Justice Department's readiness to move against President Donald Trump's political rivals.

Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced in a statement on Monday that her office was charging U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver for her actions during the May 9 confrontation with federal agents, and was dropping a charge against Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested in the incident.

In a criminal complaint made public in federal court in New Jersey on Tuesday, the Justice Department accused McIver of slamming her forearm into and forcibly grabbing a Homeland Security Investigations agent, as well as pushing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in an attempt to prevent Baraka's arrest.

McIver has labeled the charges of assault and impeding law enforcement absurd and called herself the victim of a politically motivated prosecution.

The charges reveal how the Justice Department under Trump, who has painted past legal cases against him as an improper political use of law enforcement, is unafraid of using its power against the political opposition.

Justice Department leaders have engaged in partisan rhetoric and used law enforcement actions to denigrate criminal defendants and declare political victories.

"We know there was political calculation," Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey told reporters on Tuesday. "We know there was politics at play that was intending upon using law enforcement to pursue a political end."

Habba, who served as one of Trump's personal lawyers before he appointed her to her current role, said in her statement announcing the charges that her office was working to "uphold justice impartially."

Justice Department officials have said cases against public officials show that even powerful people must follow the law. They have argued that it was the two federal criminal cases against Trump and other cases against his supporters brought during the presidency of his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden that represented a politicization of U.S. law enforcement.

"The concern is the way they talk about Democrats, there is a fear they are using their discretion to target certain people," said Thea Johnson, a professor and associate dean at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey.

'THERE TO DO MY JOB'

McIver's lawyer Paul Fishman, who served as U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 2009 to 2017 under Democratic President Barack Obama, voiced confidence in the congresswoman's defense, saying immigration agents mishandled the Newark confrontation.

"In the courtroom, facts - not headlines - will matter," Fishman said in a statement.

McIver, who is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and two other Democratic U.S. lawmakers from New Jersey made a visit to the Newark facility to check on the conditions there as part of what they called congressional oversight. A scuffle ensued with federal agents when they moved to arrest Baraka.

The charges against McIver were brought after the Department of Homeland Security accused the three lawmakers of "storming" the facility, and publicly released video of the scuffle. Habba accused the lawmakers of "running amok and running their mouths as usual."

"It's called grandstanding. When you break the law, there is no grandstanding that will help you," Habba said on the Fox News program "The Story" on the day of the incident, using an insult Trump has directed at perceived adversaries.

A federal magistrate judge in the case against Baraka warned Habba about the "boundaries of propriety for public comment" on an ongoing case.

McIver told the "CNN News Central" program on Tuesday that the case against her was "ridiculous."

"I was there to do my job, along with my other colleagues. We have done this before. This is our obligation to do. It's in our job description to have oversight," McIver said.

Senior Justice Department officials, many of whom like Habba are lawyers who have personally defended Trump, have at times made allegations in public that they have not backed up in court, including in cases related to immigrants accused of being gang members.

FBI Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee, appeared to confirm the existence of an ongoing federal investigation into New York state Attorney General Letitia James during an interview on the Fox News program "Sunday Morning Futures," while noting he could not discuss specifics.

James, a Democrat, brought a civil fraud case against Trump that resulted in a $454 million judgment. Trump, who is appealing the ruling, has called for James to be prosecuted.

Patel posted a photo of an elected Wisconsin judge being led into a police vehicle in handcuffs last month following her arrest on Justice Department charges accusing her of helping a migrant evade a federal immigration arrest.

Trump also signed an executive order last month ordering a federal investigation of a former U.S. cybersecurity official who contested his false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election in which Biden defeated him.

Federal prosecutors have wide latitude to decide when to bring criminal charges, with internal safeguards in place that are meant to ensure even-handed law enforcement.

"The reality is that the U.S. system of justice is very much based in our faith in prosecutors to make those choices in the public interest," Johnson said. "And we're in such a politically divided time, there are a lot of people that don't have faith those decisions are being made in the public interest."

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; additional reporting by Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone and Will Dunham)