The Trump administration is facing high stakes as it brings charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) — a test of the administration as it eyes additional prosecutions against other lawmakers.

The case is the first brought against a sitting lawmaker under the Trump administration, one Democrats argue amounts to an effort to intimidate the political opposition.

Alina Habba, a former personal attorney to President Trump now serving as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, has accused McIver of assaulting law enforcement with her forearms during a chaotic clash that ensued after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers began to arrest Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka (D).

Habba has since pushed to meet with two other New Jersey Democrats present that day — Reps. Rob Menendez and Bonnie Watson Coleman — raising questions over whether additional charges may be coming.

The rising tensions over the case complicate efforts to present it as a straightforward assault charge.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, described the first document filed in the case as highly flawed.

“It's one of the most embarrassing publicly filed charging documents from a U.S. attorney's office that I've ever seen,” Goldman told The Hill.

“When you then compare the written allegations to the photos that are included, it's clear the written allegations do not accurately reflect what the photos show. Then, when you look at the video, it's even less accurate, and it is because it's so weak and thin, it is so clear that it is a purely political charge.”

There are signs McIver’s case will get significant scrutiny.

A judge blasted the Justice Department as it moved to dismiss the initial trespassing charges brought against Baraka, who had........

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