Alina Habba, former President Donald Trump’s civil lawyer, slammed the judge in his New York hush money trial. She rebuked the judge for implying that Trump might miss his youngest son’s high school graduation and for not postponing the proceedings on Passover.
“You’re not even allowing a father — never mind a former president — but a father [to] attend his son’s graduation,” Habba said to Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday night, following the first day of jury selection in the former president’s criminal trial.
“And let’s not forget Passover, OK?” the attorney — who made headlines as a member of Trump’s defense team in his civil fraud trial and in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit — continued.
“Observant Jews have a right to go and pray to who they want and observe Passover. And this judge would not allow it. Not for any of the attorneys,” Habba said of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.
“And there are observant Jewish attorneys on the Trump team as well [as] on the DA team,” she noted. “It’s just a sad state of affairs for the American people, I could tell you that.”
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Habba, appearing on the conservative podcast “The Benny Show,” clarified her absence from the high-profile proceedings — the first criminal trial involving a current or former US president. She stated that she wasn’t present due to her representation of Trump in civil matters.
“Obviously, you know, being a type A person, I wish I was a criminal attorney but I’m not,” she said. “But the great news is that, then I can do this and let everybody know what is actually happening.”
Habba made her comments shortly after Merchan indicated that he couldn’t guarantee the presumptive Republican presidential nominee the day off on May 17 to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation in Palm Beach, Florida.
“It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial,” Merchan said in court Monday.
He also declined to grant Trump permission to attend next week’s US Supreme Court arguments regarding immunity claims the former president raised in another case related to charges against Capitol protesters for allegedly obstructing an official government proceeding.
“Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there, but a trial in New York Supreme Court … is also a big deal,” the judge said, rebuffing Trump lawyer Todd Blanche’s request.
“I will see him here next week,” Merchan added.
However, the judge did rule that the court won’t convene on the final two days of Passover, an eight-day Jewish holiday that begins at sunset on April 22nd.
He decided that the court will operate until 2 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, April 22nd and 23rd, as well as on Tuesday, April 30th, “to allow counsel sufficient time to arrive at their holiday destination.”
Trump strongly criticized those decisions outside the courthouse on Monday.
“It looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation of my son, who’s worked very, very hard,” the former president told reporters.
“He’s a great student and he’s very proud of the fact he did so well, and was looking forward for years to have his graduation with his mother and father there — and it looks like the judge isn’t going to allow me to escape this scam — it’s a scam trial,” he claimed.
“We’re not going to be given a fair trial,” Trump continued, calling Merchan a “conflicted judge.”
“He won’t allow me to leave here for a half a day to go to DC and go before the United States Supreme Court, because he thinks he’s superior, I guess, than the Supreme Court,” Trump added.
Trump wrapped up his tirade by alleging that Merchan’s decisions amount to election interference.
“That I can’t go to my son’s graduation, that I can’t go to the US Supreme Court, that I’m not in Georgia or Florida or North Carolina campaigning like I should be … it’s perfect for the radical-left Democrats,” he said.
“That’s exactly what they want,” he added.
Fox Nation host Piers Morgan suggested that Trump should “just go to the graduation.”
“Every parent in America, whether they like you or hate you, will go, ‘Yeah, I’d have done that too,’” he said Monday on “The Five.”
Here’s Alina Habba’s interview on Fox News.
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