Trump's Lawyer Turns NY Hearing Into Circus
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.'”
It appears Habba was putting on a show:
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.
It did not get better for Habba.
Reprinted with permission from Alternet
