Ex-Trump Attorney Slings Mud At Alina Habba Over Handling Of Fraud Case
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A former Donald Trump attorney suggested the former president’s legal team has been handling his New York civil fraud trial so messily that they may not even be trying to obtain a ruling in their favor.
“With Alina Habba handling discovery, you know, that’s not something where I think anybody was really at the wheel,” Tim Parlatore told CNN in an exchange flagged by Mediaite.
He said the team’s strategy “seemed to me to be kind of a combination of building a record for the appeal and putting out things into the media that are helpful to the campaign.”
Parlatore resigned as an attorney to Trump in May last year, citing infighting amongst the former president’s lawyers.
“There’s nothing that I’ve seen that indicates that they are trying to convince this trial judge to rule in their favor,” Parlatore said of the fraud trial. “If anything, it seems like they’re trying to convince this trial judge to get so mad that he makes bigger mistakes for the appeal.”
Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the multimillion-dollar fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, has repeatedly clashed with Trump’s legal team throughout the trial.
He has faced threats and abuse, including a bomb threat at his home this week and persistent social media vitriol from Trump.
Chris Kise, Alina Habba and Cliff Robert are among the attorneys handling Trump and his two eldest sons’ defense in the fraud trial, which heard closing arguments Thursday.
Parlatore said that Kise’s presence suggests Trump is focusing on a future appeal.
“He’s not a trial attorney,” Parlatore said. “He’s an appellate attorney. And so, one of the reasons why he’s there is probably just to prep this case for an appeal.”
Trump spoke at the end of the trial, despite Engoron denying him permission to do so.
