Alina Habba has said that she doubts the New York court system and the jury in Donald Trump's hush money case will do the "right thing."
Speaking to Newsmax's Greg Kelly on April 24, Habba, a Trump lawyer and legal spokesperson, said she didn't think the jury would "do the right thing."
She said: "I don't have hopes really that high at this moment that the New York courts will do the right thing, that the jury will do the right thing, we're in a blue state as you know."
Habba later posted to X (formerly Twitter) to say that she believes Trump will "prevail" in his trial.
Let me be very clear: the truth firmly stands with the President. He did nothing wrong and a fair hearing will expose this sham case for what it is—a partisan hoax designed to interfere in the election. President Trump will prevail.
— Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) April 25, 2024
The Context
The trial, which is in its second week, will determine whether the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidential election falsified business records over payments—allegedly facilitated by his former lawyer Michael Cohen—to former adult-film star Stormy Daniels. These were meant to keep an affair secret before the 2016 election, as alleged in a criminal indictment.
Prosecutors led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg allege the payments were part of a scheme to stop potentially damaging stories about Trump from becoming public. The Republican has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges against him in the case.
What We Know
Habba said the trial will be difficult for Trump because New York is a Democratic state, and so the jury and the judge may not sympathize with the former president.
The 12-person jury was selected to be fair and impartial, according to the court. When the jury was being selected two members were dismissed, one on the grounds that they could not meet these conditions.
Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.
Aside from the hush money case itself, Judge Juan Merchan is considering whether Trump broke a gag order by making posts on social media about the trial.
The order was imposed in March and prohibits the Republican from making public comments about prosecutors, witnesses or jurors in the case, or their families. It was expanded in April to include prohibitions on Trump making statements about Merchan's family and Bragg.
Prosecutors have asked the judge to fine Trump $10,000 in total for 10 violations but he held off on making a ruling during a hearing on the matter on Tuesday.
Views
In a post to Truth Social, his social media platform, Trump wrote on Friday that he's a victim of election interference.
He called the case a "SCAM brought about by a Corrupt District Attorney, Alvin Bragg...working with Crooked [President] Joe Biden's DOJ, IN ORDER TO HARM HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME. THIS IS ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. MAGA2024!"
What's Next?
The trial resumes on Thursday and is expected to last for six weeks.
Update: 4/25/24, 3:45 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.
Correction 4/26/24 at 8.44 a.m. ET: The article was updated to clarify that Habba believes Trump can win the trial.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more
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