Weisselberg perjury allegations could put Alina Habba’s career at risk: attorney
According to MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, attorney Alina Habba's curious response to a letter from Judge Arthur Engoron over perjury allegations levied against Allen Weisselberg, the ex-chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, should be raising eyebrows.
At issue, she noted, is that the controversial Habba not only has Donald Trump as a client but also defended Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to guilty to 15 counts that included grand larceny, falsifying business records and criminal tax fraud.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over Donald Trump's financial fraud trial, earlier this week responded to a New York Times report stating Weisselberg is suspected of perjury and demanded some answers from Trump's legal team.
However, attorney Rubin pointed to the response to this demand from Habba that she found curious.
In her letter, Habba wrote, "We do not represent him [Weisselberg] in connection with any criminal matters. I have not spoken with the New York District Attorney’s Office (DANY) about any of the matters discussed in the New York Times article. Further, in an abundance of caution, I have conferred with my ethics counsel and have been advised that I am constrained by my professional ethical obligations from providing any further detail."
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As Rubin wrote, "Notably, she does not deny conferring with Weisselberg and/or his criminal defense counsel about the plea negotiations. She also does not deny that some portion of his testimony was knowingly false."
That, the MSNBC analyst suggested, could mean that Habba may be in violation of Rule 3.3 concerning her ethical obligations to all of her clients — not just Donald Trump.
"For now, it’s not clear what ethical obligations she’s referring to," argued Rubin. "After all, Engoron — in an emailed response to counsel Thursday — reaffirmed Habba’s duties under Rule 3.3. And he ended with a stern warning: '[I]f someone pleads guilty to committing perjury in a case over which I am presiding, I want to know about it.'"
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And that, she suggested, may become an issue for Habba as Engoron continued to ponder the hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties requested by New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of her civil suit.
