438
submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

"Glaringly obvious" incompetence on display as judge tells jury to "disregard everything Ms. Habba just said"

Trump lawyer Alina Habba struggled through her cross-examination of E. Jean Carroll on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the defamation case against the former president, repeatedly admonished the attorney for running afoul of his court rules and general procedures.

Prior to Carroll’s testimony, Habba requested an adjournment so that Trump could attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.

“The application is denied. I will hear no further argument on it. None. Do you understand that word? None. Please sit down,” Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee, told Habba about the motion that he already denied.

Kaplan repeatedly interrupted Habba’s questions, including when she began to read from a document that had not been formally entered into evidence, sending the trial to a recess.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] [email protected] 155 points 4 months ago

I'm so tired of this two-tiered justice system. Just once, for fuck's sake, treat this sack of shit like you would a black teenager caught with weed in Texas.

[-] [email protected] 123 points 4 months ago

She's being this incompetent on purpose, so that when actual lawyers start to point out all the obvious flaws in her work, she and her client can continue to complain about how the "Deep State" is biased against them. The more incompetent she is, and the more negative attention she gets, the more Trump's political supporters get behind him.

It doesn't even matter if she gets disbarred after this, all she has to do is bleach her hair and she has a guaranteed gig as a legal correspondent any of the Conservative Media outlets. They probably pay more, anyway.

[-] [email protected] 124 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I don't think it's on purpose, though I agree she'll go on to do grape [sic] things as a blonde muppet in the Conservative griftosphere. I read the transcripts yesterday, and based on her performance, she was using the questions to lead to:

  • A motion for mistrial
  • A motion for recusal

...both of which she attempted in this same fucking trial, like she thought she was Phoenix Wright. The best part, though, is when she objected to evidence presented. A paraphrase:

AH: Objection!

Judge: On what grounds?

AH: It's prejudiced.

Judge: Ms. Habba, all evidence presented by the plaintiff is going to be prejudiced. That's the nature of the evidence.

She literally tried the "because it's damaging to my case" defense! ROFL

[-] [email protected] 49 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Right, you are evaluating her actions from the perspective of a lawyer who is trying to get the best outcome for their client within the legal framework of a trial. But that is not her goal.

Her goal is to make her client look like he's being persecuted. She doesn't care if her arguments are accepted by the judge. In fact, she would prefer the judge to go nuclear and lose his temper, because her client can use that to his advantage.

Trump is operating the same way. He practically begged the judge to throw him out of the courtroom. He got away with it because the judge understands exactly what Trump is doing. Trump would have used that expulsion to fundraise off of. He wants the courts mad at him, because he believes he can get votes out of it.

[-] [email protected] 40 points 4 months ago

Trump is operating the same way. He practically begged the judge to throw him out of the courtroom. He got away with it because the judge understands exactly what Trump is doing.

The judge and Trump literally had an exchange in court the other day confirming what you are saying.

"Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial.”

Trump threw his hands up in response.

“I understand you’re probably eager for me to do that,” Kaplan said.

Reporters in the courtroom heard Trump say, “I would love it.”

“I know you would,” Kaplan said.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] [email protected] 15 points 4 months ago

I think it can be both. She's trying to throw the case out (because that eats into "valuable" campaigning time) and she's also trying to make a circus so they can claim persecution, both of which she is failing spectacularly at.

Ultimately, he'll lose no votes, but I'm not interested in that for this particular case. I want to see Trump get the book thrown at him for being a whiny little baby who pathologically can't stop defaming the person he raped.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago

The judge is going to stay cool & keep handing Ms. Carroll cash, although I'd love to see Trump sitting in a jail cell till the end of this trial.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago
load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 28 points 4 months ago

They probably pay more, anyway.

Certainly more than the $0.00 Trump will cough up.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 90 points 4 months ago

This case is just like the New York one. The matter of guilt is already settled, only the award remains.

The real lawyers will work on the real case, witch is the appeal. Habba's job is to make headlines, keep Trump in the news, and fight every inch no matter how useless. Just because her behavior makes her a bad lawyer, doesn't mean she's not serving her client, or that she's dumb. Habba's legal work probably amounts to tens of millions of dollars in free prime time advertising for Trump's reelection.

Trump's strategy is to be in the news everyday. So many scandals that only Rachael Maddow can keep it all straight. Is it a good strategy? It worked in 2016.

[-] [email protected] 28 points 4 months ago

Make no mistake, her job is incredibly simple: stall and waste as much of the court's time as possible and give Trump potential mistrial grounds.

[-] [email protected] 20 points 4 months ago

When I read about her glaringly obvious mistakes (according to an article regarding admitting evidence,stating positions on things where the judge said she'd turn into a witness if her statement was true) that was the first thing that came to mind, she's there to make it last longer, and doesn't seem like the courts have a way to handle it well without a new trial so it goes slowly. Trump is like a full blown security test on US political and legal systems and they aren't performing well to his strategies.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

Just because her behavior makes her a bad lawyer, doesn’t mean she’s not serving her client, or that she’s dumb.

Doesn't she risk being debarred?

[-] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I don't know her plans, but it wouldn't matter to me if I made bank off this one clown show of a trial. Dress me up! 🤡

[-] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

deleted by creator

[-] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

I don't think it's a "strategy" as much as "the only thing he knows". Remember, this guy has only made money in real estate. Everything else flopped. He has the strategy of a real estate salesman who tells you unverifiable things like "George Washington had dinner here" and "it will double in value".

It's going to backfire now because it gets boring. Why do you think everyone in NYC hates him?

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 43 points 4 months ago
[-] [email protected] 46 points 4 months ago

“I can fake being smart."

Please start at any time.

[-] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago

She can't fake being pretty, either.

[-] [email protected] 35 points 4 months ago

She's certainly not my idea of attractive, but considering how much she looks like Melania, she is Trump's idea of attractive.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

It's as if you can actually see her haggard soul just under the inch-thick makeup.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

Donald Trump's attorney wants the public to know her good looks are more important than her intelligence, because she can "fake being smart."

What a horrible world we live in, if someone feels the need to live like that.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

I don't know if that's just an unflattering picture, but she... just no. Her head is so small she looks like she has microencephalitis from that angle. But granting that it's probably just an unfortunate camera angle, she is still looking very mid. I wouldn't look twice at her.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] [email protected] 36 points 4 months ago

HABBA: But my client has to choose between attending his mother in law’s funeral…

KAPLAN: I have ruled. Sit down.

HABBA: I don’t like to be spoken to that why. Please refrain. I am asking for an adjournment for a funeral.

KAPLAN: Denied. Sit down.

I'm sure she's good at something.....

load more comments (14 replies)
[-] [email protected] 30 points 4 months ago

"Oh no, they're not taking me seriously!"

Cashes 2.5 million dollar check

"Anyways..."

[-] [email protected] 23 points 4 months ago

With a performance like that, I'm not entirely convinced she was smart enough to get her payments upfront. We all know the famous low Valerian saying - "A Trump never pays his debts"

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Where did the check come from?

[-] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

Trump's PACs, in turn funded by a bunch of people who are being told how they're funding his "campaign".

[-] [email protected] 26 points 4 months ago

Kaplan repeatedly interrupted Habba’s questions, including when she began to read from a document that had not been formally entered into evidence, sending the trial to a recess.

“During which you should refresh your memory about how it is you get a document into evidence," Kaplan told the lawyer.

God damn.

[-] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago

He can't be found guilty and have it stick. He can blame his defense and ask for a retrial. Later. Almost immediately after the delayed verdict, but you know... later.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

Habba

What is she doing? Doesn’t she have a racist hotel pool to run or something?

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

I wouldn't even be surprised if Republicans try to vote for Trump even as he sits behind bars.

Can presidents pardon themselves to be released from prison?

[-] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

It's not clear, but if they can it's only for federal crimes. No state conviction can be overturned by the president.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2024
438 points (97.4% liked)

politics

17852 readers
5087 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
  2. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  3. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect!
  4. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
  5. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  6. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 11 months ago
MODERATORS