唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的律师在这位前总统的律师看来，事情并不顺利民事欺诈审判.
特朗普刚刚结束了一天的证词，他对法官阿瑟·恩戈伦进行了尖锐的攻击，他的律师正在努力寻求法官的指导，以根据他的书记员的行为提出无效审判——这是一个敏感的话题，恩戈伦禁止律师在法庭上引用。
“我命令你不要做出这样的动作，”恩戈伦说断然。
艾莉娜·哈巴出场，扮演和事佬。
“我会更清楚，如果我可以的话。我认为他们非常小心，这造成了混乱，法官大人，所以不要制裁我。这位律师说，他几个小时前还在法院的台阶上向记者抨击这位法官“精神错乱”。
“我认为这是公平的，我理解你的担忧。你可以提出动议，哈巴女士，”恩戈伦回应道，他也为当天早些时候对她大喊大叫道歉。
尽管Engoron最终否认了特朗普的无效审判请求，但这次交流表明了哈巴承担的往往是矛盾的角色，他既是前总统毫不掩饰的辩护人，又是他在2.5亿美元欺诈案审判中偶尔的调解人——在新泽西州私人执业几年后成名后，她很快接受了这一职位。
我所知道的最有道德的美国人
在时尚公司马克·雅可布做了两年的跟单员后，哈巴于2011年毕业于宾夕法尼亚州威德纳大学联邦法学院。她在当时的新泽西州高等法院法官小尤金·科迪(Eugene Codey Jr .)手下工作了一年，然后在两家独立的公司从事私人执业八年，然后在2020年开始自己的执业，专注于民事和商业诉讼。
据报道，在成为特朗普新泽西州贝德明斯特高尔夫俱乐部的会员后，哈巴与这位前总统的大决裂是在她代表他对特朗普提起1亿美元的诉讼时发生的纽约时报和他疏远的侄女玛丽·l·特朗普。
《纽约时报》的诉讼最终被驳回，哈巴为特朗普处理的其他案件导致了好坏参半的记录。在指控前总统性侵的前“学徒”选手萨默·泽沃斯(Summer Zervos)之后，她获得了特朗普的赞扬。撤销了她的诽谤案反对特朗普。
但当哈巴提起诉讼，声称希拉里·克林顿和其他人合谋损害特朗普的名誉时，负责该案的法官驳回了诉讼，指控特朗普“利用法院向政治对手报复”，并对特朗普和哈巴处以罚款将近100万美元。
哈巴与特朗普的辩护有着千丝万缕的联系，在他的四项刑事起诉后担任他的法律发言人，每天都出现在他身边，出席他在纽约的民事欺诈审判。美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)查阅的记录显示，与此同时，她的公司从特朗普的政治行动委员会获得了360万美元。
她引用了自己与前总统的经历，不仅为他的行为辩护，也为他的品格辩护。在川普被指控违法后出现在福克斯新闻频道保密文件的保留在佛罗里达州，她谈到特朗普时说，“他是我所知道的最有道德的美国人。”
翻白眼和不断的耳语
在特朗普的欺诈案审判中，哈巴扮演着多重角色，他是特朗普的法律发言人，也是特朗普前雇员艾伦·魏斯勒伯格(Allen Weisselberg)和杰弗里·麦康奈尔(Jeffrey McConney)的律师，他们也是该案的被告。
除了她在开幕词中提到代表Weisselberg和McConney之外，Habba似乎主要代表前总统发言。埃里克·特朗普(Eric Trump)和小唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump Jr .)的律师克利福德·罗伯特(Clifford Robert)经常向证人询问有关特朗普成年儿子行为的具体问题，而哈巴似乎经常关注这位前总统的行为。
“她要去工作，找到特朗普，然后回家，”哈巴在关于纽约司法部长利蒂夏·詹姆斯所谓的政治动机的有力开场声明中说。
当前任总统被Engoron法官禁止从提到Engoron的职员开始，Habba和特朗普的律师克里斯·基斯(Chris Kise)开始向该职员提出问题，称他们对他们的客户有“偏见”。
“当法官席上有人翻白眼和不断窃窃私语时，这令人难以置信地分散注意力，”哈巴在对特朗普前律师迈克尔·科恩进行交叉质证之前告诉Engoron，特朗普就坐在旁边。
2023年11月6日，律师Alina Habba在纽约最高法院外对媒体讲话。
斯蒂芬·杰里迈亚/美联社
当这位前总统在自己的民事审判中出庭作证时，哈巴同样为特朗普说话，并像其他任何证人一样，被禁止在作证期间讨论案件。在特朗普作证休息期间，哈巴退出法庭，代替前总统向媒体发表讲话。
“我看到的是美国司法系统的消亡，”哈巴在法庭外说。
本月早些时候，当上诉法院暂时取消了有限禁言令恩戈伦法官反对评论他的员工。
“詹姆斯小姐继续贬低我的委托人，贬低那些未被证明有罪的孩子和被告...所以这就是言论自由的工作方式，”哈巴在法庭外获胜后说道。
“我没有忘记检查盒子”
哈巴对前总统的热情辩护使她经常成为批评的目标，据哈巴说，包括多种威胁。一些批评涉及特朗普如何在没有陪审团审判的情况下结束的问题。
哈巴在她的开场陈述中批评了诉讼程序，理由是特朗普应该有权接受陪审团审判。Engoron回应说，没有人要求陪审团审判，这加剧了人们的猜测，即哈巴和特朗普的其他律师只是忘记了在表格上打勾提出这一要求。
这种猜测变得如此猖獗，以至于Engoron决定直接解决问题一周后。
“我们正在进行一场没有陪审团的审判，因为我们正在审理一场没有陪审团的案件，”恩戈伦说，并补充说他会立即拒绝任何试图进行陪审团审判的努力。"没有人忘记在方框里打勾。"
“我想说谢谢你，法官大人，”哈巴回应道，承认这个问题存在争议。“普勒斯，你听到了吗?我没有忘记检查盒子。”
你和我在一起
在陈述该州的案件时，哈巴领导了对特朗普前律师迈克尔·科恩的辩护交叉质证，特朗普在2018年认罪后服刑，罪名包括他在斯托米·丹尼尔斯的角色封口费收益。在两天多的时间里，特朗普坐在法庭上观看，哈巴盘问科恩，以至于科恩几次试图对这些问题提出自己的反对意见。
“科恩先生，事情是这样的。你没有认错。你不在你的播客上也不在CNN上。你和我在一起，”哈巴一度对科恩说。
在哈巴的追问下，科恩说自己之前犯了伪证罪——把哈巴变成了她当事人眼中的现实生活中的梅森探案集。
“他被发现说谎，就像从来没有人说谎一样。这比梅森探案集时刻更好，这应该是案件的结束，”川普事后告诉记者。
在另一点上，哈巴让科恩背诵了他2018年的判决笔录，他承认犯有多项重罪，之后她在记录中读到了几篇旧新闻文章，其中科恩称赞了他的前老板。
哈巴似乎很享受这种交流，甚至在法官允许休息时选择继续盘问。
“法官大人，如果有娱乐性，我很乐意通宵达旦，”哈巴说。
Things were not going well for Donald Trump's lawyers in the former president'scivil fraud trial.
Trump had just concluded a day of testimony that he had peppered with caustic attacks on Judge Arthur Engoron, and his attorneys were struggling to seek guidance from the judge about moving for a mistrial based on the conduct of his clerk -- a touchy subject that Engoron had barred lawyers from referencing in court.
"I'm directing you not to make such a motion,"Engoron saidflatly.
Enter Alina Habba, playing peacemaker.
"I'll be more clear, if I may. I think they are being extremely careful, and it's causing confusion, your Honor, so don't sanction me. I'm doing this in the most delicate way possible," said the attorney, who only hours earlier had blasted the judge to reporters on the steps of the courthouse as being "unhinged."
"I think this is fair, and I understand your concerns. You can make that motion, Ms. Habba," responded Engoron -- who also apologized for yelling at her earlier in the day.
Even though Engoron ultimately denied Trump's request for a mistrial, the exchange illustrates the often-contradictory roles that Habba has undertaken, acting as both the former president's unabashed defender and an occasional peacemaker in his $250 million fraud trial -- a position she has quickly adopted after rising to fame following several years in private practice in New Jersey.
'The most ethical American I know'
After working as a merchandiser at fashion company Marc Jacobs for two years, Habba attended Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Pennsylvania, graduating in 2011. She served a yearlong clerkship with then-New Jersey Superior Court Judge Eugene Codey Jr. then worked in private practice for eight years at two separate firms before starting her own practice in 2020, focusing on civil and commercial litigation.
ough membership in his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, Habba's big break with the former president came when she represented him in a $100 million lawsuit against theNew York Timesand his estranged niece, Mary L. Trump.
The New York Times lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, and Habba's other cases for Trump have resulted in a mixed record. She received praise from Trump after Summer Zervos, a former "Apprentice" contestant who accused the former president of sexual assault,dropped her defamation caseagainst Trump.
But when Habba filed a lawsuit claiming that Hillary Clinton and others conspired to damage Trump's reputation, the judge overseeing the case dismissed the suit, accused Trump of "using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries," andfined Trump and Habbanearly $1 million.
Habba has become inextricably linked to Trump's defense by serving as his legal spokesperson on the heels of his four criminal indictments, and appearing by his side every day he has attended his civil fraud trial in New York. Along the way, her firm has been paid $3.6 million from Trump's political action committees, according to records reviewed by ABC News.
She has cited her experiences with the former president to not only defend his conduct but also his character. Appearing on Fox News after Trump was indicted for the unlawfulretention of classified documentsin Florida, she said of Trump, "He's the most ethical American I know."
'Eye rolls and constant whispering'
In Trump's fraud trial, Habba serves multiple roles as Trump's legal spokesperson and as a lawyer for former Trump employees Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney, who are also defendants in the case.
Apart from her opening statement, in which she referenced representing Weisselberg and McConney, Habba appears to mainly speak on behalf of the former president. Whereas Clifford Robert, a lawyer for Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., often asks witnesses specific questions about the conduct of Trump's adult sons, Habba often appears focused on the actions of the former president.
"She was going to work, get Trump, and go home," Habba said in her forceful opening statement about the alleged political motivation of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
When the former president wasbarred by Judge Engoronfrom mentioning Engoron's clerk, Habba and Trump attorney Chris Kise began raising issues with the clerk, citing a "perception of bias" against their client.
"It is incredibly distracting when there are eye rolls and constant whispering at the bench," Habba told Engoron before the cross-examination of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, as Trump sat nearby.
Habba similarly spoke for Trump when the former president took the stand in his own civil trial and, like any other witness, was barred from discussing the case during his testimony. During a break in Trump’s testimony, Habba exited the court to address the media in lieu of the former president.
"What I'm seeing is such a demise of the American judicial system," Habba said outside court.
Habba's arguments paid off earlier this month when an appeals court temporarily lifted thelimited gag orderthat Judge Engoron had issued against making comments about his staff.
"Miss James is continuing to disparage my client and disparage children and defendants that have not been proven guilty of a million things ... so this is how free speech works," Habba said outside court following the victory.
'I didn't forget to check the box'
Habba's ardent defense of the former president has made her a frequent target of criticism, including multiple threats according to Habba. Some of that criticism involves the question of how Trump ended up without a jury trial.
Habba, in her opening statement, criticized the proceedings on the grounds that Trump should have been entitled to a trial by jury. Engoron responded by noting that no one asked for a jury trial, fueling speculation that Habba and Trump's other attorneys had simply forgotten to check a box on a form to make that request.
That speculation grew so rampant that Engoron decided to directlyaddress the issuea week later.
"We are having a non-jury trial because we are hearing a non-jury case," Engoron said, adding that he would have promptly rejected any effort to get a jury trial. "Nobody forgot to check off a box."
"I would like to say thank you, your honor," Habba responded, acknowledging the controversy of the issue. "Press, did you hear that? I didn't forget to check the box."
'You're here with me'
During the presentation the state's case, Habba led the defense's cross-examination of Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who served jail time after pleading guilty in 2018 to offenses that included his role in the Stormy Danielshush money payoff. Over two days, as Trump sat in the courtroom watching, Habba grilled Cohen to the point where Cohen, on several occasions, tried to raise his own objections to the questions.
"Mr. Cohen, here's how this is going to work. You're not on Mea Culpa. You're not on your podcast and you're not on CNN. You're here with me," Habba said to Cohen at one point.
Under Habba's questioning, Cohen said that he had previously committed perjury -- transforming Habba into a real-life Perry Mason in the eyes of her client.
"He was caught lying like no one has ever lied. It was better than a Perry Mason moment, and that should be the end of the case," Trump told reporters afterward.
At another point, Habba had Cohen recite his 2018 sentencing transcript where he pled guilty to multiple felonies, after which she read into the record several old news articles in which Cohen praised his former boss.
Habba appeared to enjoy the exchange, even opting to continue the cross-examination when offered a break by the judge.
"Your Honor, if it's entertaining, I'm happy to go all night," Habba said.
