New legal trouble for Donald Trump and Alina Habba
Donald Trump’s attorneys just keep finding ways to need their own attorneys. Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Christina Bobb have all been indicted. Numerous Trump attorneys have been forced to testify against him to grand juries. And now Trump’s highest profile remaining attorney, Alina Habba, may have gotten herself and Trump into legal trouble.
Ever since Judge Juan Merchan first brought up the possibility of jail time eight days ago, Trump has made a point of abiding by his gag order. He’s clearly afraid of getting locked up. But Habba, who is both Trump’s attorney and his spokesperson, is now out there attacking the credibility of the witnesses in this trial.
Various legal experts are saying that Habba’s statements could indeed be a gag order violation. There is some question as to how this would play out. Would the judge put Trump and Habba on the stand under oath and force them each to talk about what interactions they did or didn’t have about the subject before Habba attacked the witnesses?
This kind of thing is pretty much a judgment call on the part of the trial judge (subject to appeals court review). So it’ll be up to Judge Merchan to decide what, if any, action to take here. He could also simply instruct Trump that he’ll be responsible for anything inappropriate that Habba says going forward.
But it sure feels like Trump and Habba are making a mess for themselves here. Trump is so close to getting locked up, the judge has already given the ‘I don’t want to have to do this but I’m going to’ speech, and the Mayor of New York City now says that Rikers Island prison has been prepared for Trump’s arrival if needed. So if Trump wants to keep dancing this close to the edge, he’s going to fall into a prison cell.
