Donald Trump attorney Alina Habba tears into ‘unhinged’ Judge Arthur Engoron for going ‘red’ in the face, slamming the table and telling her to sit down
- Habba said ‘red-faced’ judge ‘yelled’ at her and tried to ‘silence’ her client
- Trump called prosecuting attorney general Letitia James a ‘hack’
- READ MORE: Donald Trump takes the stand in $250m fraud trial LATEST
Donald Trump’s attorney 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 Judge Engoron believed Trump committed fraud before ‘we even walked into this courtroom’.
Trump is accused in the $250million civil fraud trial in New York of inflating his net worth and property values in order to secure loans on favorable terms.
During a break in proceedings Habba stood outside the court building and railed against the judge, describing his face ‘going red’ when Trump was on the witness stand.
She accused the judge of wanting to ‘silence’ Trump during his answers to questions on his business empire and the value of Mar-a-Lago.
‘Why exactly am I being paid as an attorney and why exactly are taxpayer dollars being used in this courtroom,’ Habba fumed as she claimed Judge Engoron had already jumped to conclusions.
Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba called Justice Arthur Engoron ‘unhinged’ for slamming the table during the former president’s testimony and telling her to sit down
She also accused New York Attorney General Letitia James of trying to ‘make a name for herself’ by calling Trump a ‘liar’ and bringing the case against him.
Habba then recounted the moment she was scolded by Judge Engoron during a tense opening to the former president’s testimony.
‘You have a right to hire a lawyer who can stand up and say something when they see something wrong,’ she said.
‘But I was told to sit down today. I was yelled at and I’ve had a judge who is unhinged slamming a table.
‘I don’t tolerate that in my life, I’m not going to tolerate it here. And you know what, you shouldn’t either.’
The lawyer added: ‘I’m seeing such a demise of (the) American judicial system and democracy’. The judge doesn’t like when President Trump explains what actually happened because it’s not good for his narrative.’
She said the judge ‘clearly has an issue’ and ‘if you’ve seen his behavior with me, his behavior with the president today, he has a clear issue with facts that are not good for the case.
‘He (the judge) is clearly enraged, his face is red, he is – he came in hot, and he doesn’t know how to handle him (Trump).’
‘Why exactly am I being paid as an attorney and why exactly are taxpayer dollars 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 thought Trump committed fraud before ‘we even walked into this courtroom’ during a break in the $250million New York fraud trial
Habba spoke moments after Trump delivered another series of blistering attacks on James and the judge in very combative testimony.
The furious 77-year-old singled out James, who is sitting in the front row of the court, and accused her of being a ‘political hack’ who brought the case against him to help her failed bid to become New York governor.
Trump became animated and audibly frustrated as he attacked James and the judge during confrontations about the property values and net worth he is accused of inflating by billions.
The frontrunner in the Republican presidential race also pointed at the judge and berated him for calling him a ‘fraud’, even though he ‘didn’t know anything about me’.
Habba claimed Engoran’s face ‘going red’ when Trump was on the stand and accused him of wanting to ‘silence’ the 77-year-old former president
The former president sits alongside his lawyers Christopher Kise (left) and Alina Habba (right). He was called as witness straight away and was sworn in after slamming the ‘political warfare’ against him that only takes place ‘in banana republics’
The frontrunner in the Republican presidential race also pointed at Justice Arthur Engoron and berated him for calling him a ‘fraud’, even though he ‘didn’t know anything about me’
The opening hour of his testimony was marked by constant confrontations between the judge, Trump and his legal counsel about the former president’s lengthy answers to questions about his financial statements
Trump told the court: ‘He (judge Engoron) said I’m a fraud because I didn’t value my property correctly. He’s the one who didn’t rule my property correctly.’
The former president also claimed the true fraud was ‘on behalf of the court’ and insisted he is worth ‘billions of dollars more’ than outlined in the financial statements at he heart of the case.
He is accused of having inflated his net worth in those statments by as much as $6.3billion in order to secure favorable loans.
Confrontations dominated parts of Trump’s testimony as he discussed the value of Mar-a-Lago and again tore into the people who had brought the case against him.
He focused on Mar-a-Lago, which the financial statements claimed was worth upwards of $500 million, but the court has decided was worth as little as $18 million.
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