Alina Habba “can’t even do things that you learn in evidence class,” says CNN legal analyst Elie Honig

A former White House attorney for Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s “not surprised” the former president is looking for new representation for his appeal of the defamation trial verdict, calling out Trump lawyer Alina Habba’s management of the case. Trump announced late Tuesday that he was seeking new counsel for his appeal of the $83.3 million verdict in the defamation lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. Habba, who served as Trump’s lead attorney and frequently clashed with the presiding judge throughout the trial, handled the case “in the mafia way,” Ty Cobb told CNN Wednesday, according to HuffPost.

“She’s done his bidding. She’s articulated his political narrative of victimization and unfairness in the judicial system and made some outlandish claims, including the conflict claims,” Cobb continued. "And she lost, so she’s a loser. I’m not surprised that Trump is looking for appellate representation.”

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I doubt he will replace her with anyone more competent. He can’t afford anyone good, has a poor track record of picking lawyers, and he’s burned too many bridges without the cash to pay for it.

    • oDDmON@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      He’s also stiffed multitudes of his previous service providers and contractors, IIRC.

    • sab@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      Also his idea of “good” is someone who doesn’t contradict him. He wants to run the case his way, and no reasonably intelligent lawyer will ever agree to that as it will make them look like idiots and the case is a sure loss.

      • PilferJynx@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        You’d have to be paid enough up front to destroy your career. I don’t think he has the money for that.

        • Pretzilla@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Pretty key feature for her predictable career pivot to right wingnut TV legal commentator in 3, 2, 1…

      • shyguyblue@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        The attorney for the plaintiff even said her entire demeanor changed when trump was out of the room. He wants loyalty, competence optional.

      • Billiam@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Guess we can assume Alina Habba isn’t “reasonably intelligent” then cause… man, does she look like an idiot.

      • modeler@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Well that’s obviously true! Trump’s one of the greatest legal minds ever, so any ordinary lawyer should simply recognise this and follow Trump’s lead. Anything else means you’re a dumb lawyer /s

    • PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com
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      10 months ago

      That’s a good point. I should offer my services and then let him take the stand to his own detriment. I’ll even say I’ll do it for free upfront.

      • lgstarn@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        That’s kind of a cool idea, but depending on where you are this is illegal and/or unethical as lawyers have a fiduciary duty to represent their client’s best interest.

        https://www.stimmel-law.com/en/articles/fiduciary-duty

        A lawyer owes a fiduciary duty to a client. The lawyer must at all times act in the best interest of the client and must make full disclosure of any economic or other interest that the lawyer has that might conflict with the interest of the client. The lawyer is obligated to take all actions and give all advice that will benefit the client and to use professional skill and energy to protect the client’s interests. Should a conflict of interest arise (for example, the lawyer discovers that one client wishes to hire him to sue another one of his clients) the lawyer must immediately make full disclosure of such conflict and take steps to immediately end the conflict regardless of the personal cost to the lawyer.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I’m waiting for the court appointed attorneys to show up. at least for the criminal trials.

  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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    10 months ago

    I mean… feels like that’s 100% on Trump for having selected her as his attorney in the first place? To be fair, his selection criteria for her was probably along the lines of “she got a law degree and she’s hot and I think I could convince her to let me fuck her” because Habba does loosely resemble a younger Melania

    • AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      she’s hot and I think I could convince her to let me fuck her> >

      Yeah… getting approval for sex isn’t exactly his m.o. Fucking women without permission is how dip shit got to this trial in the first place.

      • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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        10 months ago

        I mean I get what you’re saying… but as much of an imbecile as he is, I really don’t think he’s dumb enough to rape (or even attempt to rape) his own civil defense lawyer in a case about financial damages he owes a plaintiff that he raped, lost a case against, which effectively legally established that he raped her, and then continued to slander about said rape and case. Like… there has to be a limit.

        • Elsie@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          Like… there has to be a limit.

          And yet the limit keeps on getting pushed…

        • AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Everytime I think that idiot can’t possibly be that stupid or do something that shitty, he takes it to another level. There is no floor on this thing.

        • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          I thought I was numb to all the escalating scandals, but you’re right, that would be a whole new level of deranged behavior.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Wouldn’t be surprised if they were fucking.

      And then she realized she was never getting paid and stopped.

  • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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    10 months ago

    Why would trump hire a loser that doesn’t know what she’s doing?

    Could it be that trump is also a loser who doesn’t know what he is doing? Is it camaraderie?

  • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    It’s so funny how he just immediately turns on people when he fires them. Like oh, your lawyer was terrible at her job, your attorney General, your vice president, your Secretary of State, your Secretary of Defense…maybe whoever picks these people is really bad at his job?

    Like obviously he’s lying for political expedience, but best case scenario if we believed him entirely, he’s terrible at HIS job of picking the best people to run things for him.

    • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Can he not remember his own Secretary of Transportation’s name due to dementia, or is it deliberate due to racism? Both?

  • profdc9@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Alina Habba has what she wants: a gravy train on the MAGA circuit. To do this, she needed to be a clown, not an attorney.

      • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I try to keep an moderately optimistic view of humanity. Sure, we are bombing hospitals and shooting grandmothers, but sucking Trumps dick? I just hope we haven’t gone that far.

        • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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          10 months ago

          I thought about excerpting some of Stormy Daniels’s graphic descriptions of what Trump’s dick is like, but I don’t think anyone needs to see it unless they’ve given a consenting click beforehand.

          (She also said he had “Yeti pubes”)

  • 4grams@awful.systems
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    10 months ago

    turnip is always looking for his next scapegoat. How anyone ever agrees to do business with him is beyond me, the pattern is well established, you won’t walk away unscathed…

  • EpeeGnome@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    Well, for once he’s not wrong. She certainly proved herself to be an incompetent loser of a lawyer. Even I knew you don’t show up in a federal court room without already having memorized the rules for basic shit like introducing evidence.