An attorney for Donald Trump turned a (virtual) New York courtroom into a Fox News-style proceeding Thursday.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is attempting to force Donald Trump, the former president, along with his adult children to sit for depositions related to her investigation into possible fraud at the Trump Organization. Thursday’s hearing was called so New York Supreme Court District Judge Arthur Engoron could hear arguments on the issue.
But Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, had other ideas in mind, as Business Insider reports.
“I want to know,” Habba, in court, asked the NY Attorney General, “are you gonna go after Hillary Clinton for what she’s doing to my client?”
Hillary Clinton is doing nothing to her client, except perhaps making him and the right-wing media silo look bad.
“That she spied at Trump Tower in your state?” Habba continued, which is false. “Are you gonna look into her business dealings?”
Judge Engoron was not impressed.
“The Clintons are not before me,” the judge replied.
NPR host Peter Sagal weighed in, saying: “I’m not a lawyer, but based on her rant in a virtual courtroom just now, I’m not sure Donald Trump’s attorney Alina [Habba] is either.”
“Among other things,” Sagal adds, “she’s speaking to the Judge as if he’s an opponent on a cable news panel, which strikes me as not wise? Also, the [clerk] keeps having to tell her to stop talking over the judge.”
Habba also told the judge AG James is engaged in “selective prosecution,” as Law & Crime News managing editor Adam Klasfeld reports.
“It’s unconstitutional,” she claimed.
“The only reason that she is doing this because he was a former president, and because he sits on the other side of the fence,” she added.
Klasfeld adds that Habba called “for an evidentiary hearing to probe whether this is premised on a ‘political agenda.'”
Habba claims that the investigation is happening "probably because [Trump] can win again in '24."\n\nShe speculates the probe would go away if Trump disavowed that ambition.— Adam Klasfeld (@Adam Klasfeld) 1645114168
It appears Habba was putting on a show:
Clerk to Habba:\n\n"Counselor, when the judge speaks, you need to stop speaking."— Adam Klasfeld (@Adam Klasfeld) 1645114257
Engoron and his clerk both chide Habba for disrupting them.\n\nHabba: "She called him an illegitimate president."\n\n"This is about politics your honor. I'm sorry, it really is," she adds.— Adam Klasfeld (@Adam Klasfeld) 1645114470
Habba also told the judge that Donald Trump is a “protected class.” When asked to explain, she reportedly referenced his “political speech,” which is not what “protected class” means.
Engoron:\n\nTrump "isn't a protected class," which usually applies to race, religion, etc.\n\n(Deleted to fix a typo)— Adam Klasfeld (@Adam Klasfeld) 1645114972
It did not get better for Habba.
Now she's arguing that the prosecution is invalid because its relying on the evidence of Michael Cohen, a convicted perjurer. \n\nJudge: "Um, was he convicted for lying about Mr Trump's finances?"— Peter Sagal (@Peter Sagal) 1645115176
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