Alina Habba
Alina Habba is an American lawyer.[1] She is a partner at the legal firm of Habba Madaio & Associates, LLP, based in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Legal career
Habba began working as a lawyer in 2011.[2] She was a managing partner at a law firm from 2013 to 2020, when she became the principal in Habba Madaio & Associates LLP, a law firm with five employees and $900,000 a year in revenue.
Work on behalf of Donald Trump
She was hired by former President of the United States Donald Trump in September 2021.[1]
Habba represented Trump against attempts to investigate allegations he had fraudulently misrepresented the value of his assets on his New York State income tax returns.[3] Habba appealed a court order Trump and his children testify under oath about the valuations they signed for when filing those returns.[4] Her appeals failed, and Letitia James, New York's Attorney General, personally deposed Trump, on August 10, 2022.[5] While Ronald P. Fischetti took the lead role in Trump's defense, Habba was also present. Trump refused to answer all questions during the four hour deposition, under the United States Constitution's Fifth Amendment.
Judge Arthur F. Engoron had held Trump in contempt of court over his refusal to testify, ordering him to pay $110,000.[6] Habba failed to get the payment overturned.
Habba worked on Trump's behalf when he was sued for defamation by Summer Zervos.[7] Trump had called Zervos a "liar", in 2017, after she accused him of kissing her and groping her, without her consent, when she was a contestant on Trump's Reality TV show, The Apprentice. In October 2021 Habba filed Trump's countersuit against Zervos, claiming she was trying to stifle Trump's right to free speech.
On November 7, 2022, Habba appeared on Right Side Broadcasting Network to warn Ron Desantis, the Governor of Florida, that he should not challenge her boss Donald Trump, for the Republican Party's nomination for President in 2024.[8][9]
On November 10, 2022, Charlie Savage, reporting in The New York Times, wrote that Florida judge Donald M. Middlebrooks tossed out a lawsuit Habba and other Trump lawyers had filed against Hilary Clinton.[10] Middlebrooks fined each of Habba, Michael T. Madaio, Peter Ticktin and Jamie Alan Sasson, $50,000, for abusing the judicial system with frivolous lawsuits, for political gain. Habba may face more financial penalties, as those targetted in the lawsuit have sued for damages.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jerry Lambe (2021-09-22). "Trump Lawyer Suing NYT, Mary Trump Represented Former ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ Star Who Recently Claimed Facebook ‘Disabled’ Account for Wishing Melania Trump a Happy Birthday". Law and Crime magazine. Archived from the original on 2022-09-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20220902154855/https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-lawyer-suing-nyt-mary-trump-represented-former-real-housewives-of-new-jersey-star-who-recently-claimed-facebook-disabled-account-for-wishing-melania-trump-a-happy-birthday/. Retrieved 2022-09-03. "While this appears to be Habba’s first stint representing Trump, she did previously work on a matter tangentially related to former First Lady Melania Trump." mirror
- ↑ Greg Heilman (2022-10-25). "Who is Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba? What’s her net worth?". Archived from the original on 2022-11-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20221116175349/https://en.as.com/latest_news/who-is-donald-trumps-attorney-alina-habba-whats-her-net-worth-n/. Retrieved 2022-09-03. "Habba has be practicing law since 2011. Prior to starting her own firm in 2020 she was a managing partner at a mid-sized firm for seven years."
- ↑ Jonah E. Bromwich (2022-06-07). "Trump Set to Be Questioned Under Oath by New York A.G. Next Month". New York Times: p. A20. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/nyregion/donald-trump-letitia-james-testify.html. Retrieved 2022-09-03. "Alina Habba, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said soon after that ruling that she would appeal the matter to the Court of Appeals."
- ↑ Jonah E. Bromwich, Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum (2021-12-20). "Trump Sues New York A.G. in Bid to Stop Inquiry Into His Business". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-08-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20220823083133/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/20/nyregion/trump-lawsuit-letitia-james.html. Retrieved 2022-09-03. "A lawyer for Mr. Trump, Alina Habba, said in a statement on Monday that the lawsuit was an effort to stop Ms. James’s 'bitter crusade to punish her political opponent in its tracks.'" mirror
- ↑ Jonah E. Bromwich (2022-08-10). "Trump and James sat across from each other for hours as he said ‘same answer’ again and again.". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-09-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20220902160128/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/nyregion/trump-letitia-james-deposition.html?searchResultPosition=1. Retrieved 2022-09-03. "Ms. James read an introduction at the opening of the interview but left the questioning to one of her office’s lawyers, Kevin Wallace. A number of other lawyers from her office were present, and Mr. Fischetti said he was joined by another of Mr. Trump’s attorneys, Alina Habba." mirror
- ↑ Jonah E. Bromwich, Ben Protess (2022-05-11). "Judge Lifts Contempt Order Against Trump in Civil Inquiry". New York Times: p. A19. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/11/nyregion/trump-contempt-letitia-james.html. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
- ↑ "Ex-‘Apprentice’ Contestant Drops Defamation Lawsuit Against Trump". New York Times. 2021-11-12. Archived from the original on 2021-11-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20211112224039/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/nyregion/trump-defamation-lawsuit-summer-zervos.html. Retrieved 2022-09-03. "Last month, Ms. Habba signaled in a court document that Mr. Trump planned to file a countersuit against Ms. Zervos, arguing that she had stifled his right to speak freely." mirror
- ↑ Zachary Petrizzo (2022-11-07). "Trump Lawyer Issues Stern Warning to DeSantis on 2024 Speculation". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2022-11-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20221108115832/https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-lawyer-alina-habba-issues-stern-warning-to-ron-desantis-on-2024?ref=home. Retrieved 2022-09-03. "'DeSantis is DeSantis because of Trump,' Habba said on the pro-Trump YouTube channel Right Side Broadcasting Network. 'He needs to stay in Florida.'"
- ↑ Kathryn Rubino (2022-11-08). "Trump Lawyer Alina Habba Takes Break From Questionable Lawyering To Issue Warning To Ron DeSantis: The 2024 election already promises to be a doozy.". Above the Law. https://abovethelaw.com/2022/11/trump-lawyer-alina-habba-takes-break-from-questionable-lawyering-to-issue-warning-to-ron-desantis/. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
- ↑ Charlie Savage (2022-11-10). "Judge Fines Trump Lawyers in Clinton Conspiracy Suit Tossed in September". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-11-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20221119050537/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/us/judge-trump-clinton.html. Retrieved 2022-09-03. "The Trump lawyers who must now pay a fine of $50,000 are Alina Habba, Michael T. Madaio, Peter Ticktin and Jamie Alan Sasson. In a statement, Ms. Habba said that she planned to appeal the decision. The remaining lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
