Dec 1 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court determined on Monday that Alina Habba, a former personal lawyer to Donald Trump, was unlawfully appointed as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey and disqualified her from supervising cases in a decision rebuking the Republican president.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was the latest blow to Trump and his Justice Department as they seek to install loyalists to oversee key U.S. Attorney's offices around the country.

The 3rd Circuit upheld U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann's ruling in August that the Trump administration violated a federal appointments law in naming Habba as acting U.S. Attorney in New Jersey.

"It is apparent that the current administration has been frust

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