Alina Habba is Trump’s attorney in his defamation trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. Habba attracted all the wrong sort of attention on Wednesday after her performance in the courtroom.
Multiple battles
According to an analysis by Business Insider, Trump’s attorney fought with US District Judge Lewis Kaplan more than a dozen times during Wednesday’s hearing. Many of the exchanges made their way onto Twitter, where legal experts and other individuals poked fun at Habba.
Bad start
Things got off to a bad start for Habba when she insisted on complaining about Kaplan’s refusal to hold the hearing on a later day to allow Trump to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral. “The application is denied,” Kaplan snapped. “I will hear no further argument on it. None. Do you understand that word? None. Please sit down.”
Setting the tone
Habba initially refused to sit. “Your honor,” she said, “I don’t like to be spoken to like that. I will ask you to refrain from speaking to me like that.” “Denied,” Kaplan responded.
The drama continues
Carroll then began giving her testimony. Habba interrupted her but was quickly told by Kaplan to sit down. “I make the rulings here,” Kaplan said, “not the lawyers. Sit down.”
Follow the rules
Habba’s cross-examination got off to a bad start when Kaplan demanded a hard copy of a transcript. After she protested that it was on a screen, Kaplan lost his patience. “We’re going to do it my way in this courtroom,” he said, “and that’s all there is to it.”
Totally lost
While asking Carroll about the title of her 1985 book, Habba asked the writer to recount an answer she gave to an earlier question. Carroll’s lawyer objected, saying, “I don’t know what she’s talking about.” “Neither do I,” Kaplan said.
In the wrong position
After Carroll said she didn’t know how the White House worked, Habba said, “I’ll represent to you that there is—” before Kaplan interrupted her. “We’re not going to have any representations,” Kaplan said. “If you want to make representations, you can be called as a witness.”
Basic mistakes
Habba attempted to read a tweet, but was interrupted by Carroll’s lawyer, who pointed out the post had not been entered in evidence. “Guess what?” Kaplan said. “You may not read from a document that’s not in evidence.”
Go over the procedure
At this point, Kaplan called for a break. He advised Habba to use the time to “refresh your memory about how it is you get a document into evidence.”
Widespread disbelief
“Good lord!” Attorney Ron Filipkowski wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to reports of one of Habba’s errors. “Habba doesn’t know how to impeach a witness with a deposition transcript so the judge has to send the jury out to explain to her how to do it. The difference between a real lawyer and a TV lawyer.”
Unbelievable
“Can you imagine showing up to a trial and asking the trial court judge, ‘How do you suggest I proceed?’ because you don’t know the rules of evidence?” wrote legal professor Anthony Michael Kreis.
Dodgy paperwork
“Did Alina Habba get her law degree at Trump University?” one user responded. In 2018, a federal judge awarded $25 million to attendees of the now-defunct real estate seminar, which New York’s then–Attorney General called a “fraudulent” and “sham university.”
Lack of preparation
“It looks like they haven’t prepared for [the] hearing today,” another user commented. “All the drama in the courtroom to just make a controversy to just become a victim to gain sympathy.”
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