Trump Picks Another One of His Personal Attorneys to Join Administration
Donald Trump has appointed his personal criminal defense attorney, Alina Habba, as a counselor to the president in his incoming administration.
“I am pleased to announce that Alina Habba will join my White House Team as Counselor to the President,” Trump wrote in a Sunday Truth Social Post. Alina has been a tireless advocate for Justice, a fierce Defender of the Rule of Law, and an invaluable Advisor to my Campaign and Transition Team. She has been unwavering in her loyalty, and unmatched in her resolve – standing with me through numerous ‘trials,’ battles, and countless days in Court,” he added.
Habba, who earned her Juris Doctorate at Widener University, has used her law license to act on Trump behalf in some capacity since 2021, when she allegedly tricked a former employee at the president-elect’s Bedinster, New Jersey, golf club into signing an illegal NDA to cover up a workplace sexual harassment complaint. Following an exodus of Trump’s longtime attorneys in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, Habba was officially hired onto his legal team in September of that same year.
Habba isn’t the first personal attorney of Trump’s to to be tapped for an administration role. Last month, the president-elect nominated Todd Blanche — another one of his criminal defense attorneys — for the position of deputy attorney general. Trump also tapped his former impeachment lawyer Pam Bondi as his nominee for attorney general after his initial pick, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration when it became clear he wouldn’t be confirmed..
Habba has represented the president-elect — often unsuccessfully — in several high-profile cases. She led Trump’s defense in a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Trump and the Trump Organization. Trump and his companies were found liable for financial fraud and ordered to pay $355 million in damages to New York. Habba also acted as lead attorney for Trump as he attempted to defeat a civil sexual assault and defamation lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll. Trump was ultimately found liable for sexual assault — and repeated instances of defamation — against Carroll, and ordered to pay $83.3 million in total damages over the course of two trials.
Habba notably did not participate in the in-court defense of Trump during the trial that would resulted in a felony conviction of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to his hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Habba instead acted as the president-elect’s legal spokesperson and attack dog throughout the trial, criticizing the proceedings as an unlawful political persecution.
Her staunch public defenses of his innocence is perhaps why Trump chose to place her in a close advisory role. The president-elect added in his Monday announcement that “few understand the Weaponization of the ‘Injustice’ System better than Alina, who has fought relentlessly against the full force of Lawfare with courage and an unshakable commitment to Justice.”
For all the admiration she’s garnered from the president-elect, members of the legal profession have made clear that — like many of Trump’s attorneys — Habba has a habit of conflating her own political views with the law.
In 2022, Habba and other members of Trump’s legal team were fined $50,000 each after filing a lawsuit a judge called “political grievances masquerading as legal claims.”
“The courts are not intended for performative litigation for purposes of fund-raising and political statements,” Southern District of Florida Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks wrote in his scathing rebuke to Trump’s team. Middlebrooks later ordered Trump’s attorneys to pay up nearly $1 million to cover the legal fees of the defendants named in the frivolous lawsuit — including Hillary Clinton, James Comey, and others linked to the Trump-Russia probe.
Earlier this year, New York Judge Lewis Kaplan rebuked Habba more than a dozen times during a single day of testimony in Carroll v. Trump, including for repeatedly attempting to read from documents that had not been introduced into evidence by Trump’s defense, and violating cross examination guidelines established by Kaplan.
“I’m disappointed in my legal talent, I’ll be honest with you,” Trump said in the aftermath of the case. While Habba has struggled to successfully defend him in court, she’s seemingly had better results convincing Trump to keep her in his orbit.
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