Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba called Judge Arthur Engoron “unhinged” for slamming the table during the former president’s testimony and “yelling” at her to sit down.
In an impassioned defense of her client outside court, Habba claimed that Judge Engoron believed Trump had committed fraud before “we even walked into this courtroom.”
Trump is accused in the $250 million civil fraud trial in New York of inflating his net worth and the value of his properties.
During a break in the proceedings, Habba stood outside the building and described the judge’s face “turning red” as Trump sat on the witness stand inside.
She accused the judge of trying to silence Trump during his answers to questions about his business empire and the value of Mar-a-Lago.
“Why exactly am I being paid as a lawyer and why exactly is taxpayer money being used in this courtroom,” Habba fumed, claiming Judge Engoron had already jumped to conclusions.
She also accused New York Attorney General Letitia James of trying to “make a name for herself” by calling Trump a “liar” and going after him.
Habba then recounted the moment she was berated by Engoron during a tense opening of the former president’s testimony.
Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba called Judge Arthur Engoron “unhinged” for throwing the table during the former president’s testimony and telling her to sit down
“You have the right to hire a lawyer who can stand up and say something if he sees something is wrong,” she said.
“But I was told to sit down today. I was yelled at and had a judge hit a table wildly.
‘I won’t tolerate that in my, I’m not going to tolerate it here. And you know what, you shouldn’t do that either.
“I see this as a demise of the American justice system and democracy.”
‘The judge does not like it when President Trump explains what really happened, because that is not good for his story.
“This is a judge who clearly has a problem. If you’ve seen his behavior with me, his behavior with the president today, he has a clear problem with facts that are not good for the case.
“That’s why he shuts him up, gives him short answers and why he’s clearly furious, his face is red, he’s – he came in hot, and he doesn’t know how to deal with him
“Why exactly am I being paid as a lawyer and why exactly are taxpayers’ money being used in this courtroom,” Habba said as she claimed Engoroan had already jumped to conclusions
In an impassioned defense of her client, Habba claimed Engoran believed Trump had committed fraud before “we even walked into this courtroom” during a break in the $250 million fraud trial in New York.
Habba spoke shortly after Trump delivered another series of blistering attacks on James and the judge in his combative testimony.
The irate 77-year-old picked on James from the front row of the court and accused her of being a “political hack” who brought the $250 million case against him to help her failed bid to become governor of New York. become.
Trump became animated and audibly frustrated as he attacked James and the judge during confrontations over the property values and fortune he allegedly inflated by billions.
The front-runner in the Republican presidential race also pointed to Judge Arthur Engoron, slamming him for calling him a “fraud” even though he knew “nothing about me.”
Habba claimed Engoran’s face “turned red” when Trump was in the stands and accused him of trying to silence the 77-year-old former president
The former president sits next to his lawyers Christopher Kise (left) and Alina Habba (right). He was immediately called and sworn in as a witness after criticizing the “political warfare” against him that only takes place “in banana republics”
The front-runner in the Republican presidential race also pointed a finger at Judge Arthur Engoron, slamming him for calling him a “fraud” even though he knew “nothing about me”
The opening hour of his testimony was marked by continued confrontations between the judge, Trump and his legal counsel over the former president’s lengthy answers to questions about his financial statements.
“He said I’m a fraud because I didn’t properly value my property,” Trump continued. “He’s the one who didn’t manage my property properly.”
Trump also claimed the real fraud took place “on behalf of the court” and insisted he is worth “billions of dollars more” than reflected in the financial statements, which he is accused of falsifying to increase his net worth by as much as 6.3 billion dollars.
The confrontation dominated the second part of his testimony, in which Trump discussed the value of Mar-a-Lago and again spoke out against the people who brought the case against him.
He focused on Mar-a-Lago, which documents claim is worth more than $500 million, emphasizing that it is currently worth “between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.”