What Happened to Judge Zahid N. Quraishi Ejects Prosecutor?

The incident on March 17, 2026, saw U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi take the extraordinary step of ejecting Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Coyne from his courtroom during a sentencing hearing. The confrontation began as Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosenblum was being questioned about the U.S. Attorney's office's leadership structure. When Coyne interjected, Judge Quraishi accused him of attempting to "blindside" the court and ordered his removal, threatening court security intervention if he did not comply.

Judge Quraishi's frustration was multifaceted, stemming from what he described as the Justice Department's "chaotic oversight" of federal prosecutions in New Jersey. A key factor was a recent ruling by another judge that found the Trump administration's decision to replace interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba with three unconfirmed officials violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause. These three officials—Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox, and Ari Fontecchio—have remained in charge pending an appeal, a situation Judge Quraishi found deeply problematic.

Beyond the leadership concerns, Judge Quraishi also voiced severe criticism regarding the specific child sexual abuse material case before him. He characterized the investigation as "sloppy" and questioned the prosecution's judgment in reaching a plea agreement before the FBI had completed searching the defendant's electronic devices. This agreement, he noted, called for a "significantly lower" sentence than federal guidelines. The judge explicitly told Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosenblum, "You have lost the confidence and the trust of this Court. You have lost the confidence and the trust of the New Jersey legal community, and you are losing the trust and confidence of the public."

This event was not an isolated display of judicial displeasure from Judge Quraishi. Just weeks prior, in February 2026, he had excoriated federal prosecutors for repeatedly violating a federal statute related to immigrant detentions, threatening to compel them to testify under oath if the misconduct continued. He stated then that the government's continued reliance on the rejected statute could "only be deemed intentional" and declared, "It ends today." These prior warnings underscore a pattern of the judge demanding accountability from federal prosecutors.

The immediate consequences of the March 17, 2026, ejection include the rescheduling of the sentencing in the child sexual abuse case. More significantly, Judge Quraishi ordered the three officials leading the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's office—Lamparello, Fox, and Fontecchio—to appear before him on May 4, 2026, to answer questions under oath about the office's management structure and decision-making. He indicated that if their answers were unsatisfactory, he might summon even higher-ranking Justice Department officials, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, to testify.

It is important to note that this incident is distinct from the high-profile bribery trial of Senator Bob Menendez. While Judge Quraishi was initially assigned to the Menendez case, the recent ejection of a prosecutor and the underlying issues with the U.S. Attorney's office leadership pertain to separate federal prosecutions in New Jersey. The Menendez trial and sentencing were handled by U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in Manhattan.