A top Trump Justice Department official is under investigation over claims she tricked a young waitress into signing a hush money deal to cover up sexual harassment at one of Donald Trump’s golf clubs.
Alina Habba, now serving as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and a longtime Trump loyalist, is being investigated by New Jersey’s top legal ethics board. The probe could cost her the right to practice law.
The case centers on an alleged cover-up at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. According to a report by NOTUS, a 21-year-old waitress named Alice Bianco came forward in 2021 with claims of sexual harassment by a co-worker. Instead of getting help, Bianco was allegedly manipulated by Habba—who posed as her lawyer while secretly working for the club.
“The New Jersey Supreme Court’s Office of Attorney Ethics has been looking into allegations that Habba mistreated the employee — becoming her lawyer only to convince her to accept a hush money deal for a paltry sum, all to ingratiate herself with Trump,” NOTUS reported.
The deal offered Bianco $15,000 in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement, effectively silencing her. Text messages cited in a court complaint reportedly show Habba badmouthing Bianco’s real attorney and offering to step in instead.
Habba’s move raised serious ethical red flags. The complaint says she drafted the $15,000 agreement herself and made the offer while pretending to be on Bianco’s side. “Dozens of text messages” back up the claims, according to NOTUS.
Even after the case was quietly settled with an undisclosed payout, Habba’s troubles didn’t end. The state’s ethics office has continued its investigation for over a year.
Since taking her federal position, Habba has drawn more fire. She made headlines for charging Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver with interfering in an ICE protest, a move watchdog group Campaign for Accountability called “politically motivated.” The group has filed an ethics complaint over that case as well.
Habba, once Trump’s personal attorney, is now facing growing pressure—and serious questions about whether she abused her legal power to protect her boss.
