Alina Habba's 'Nervous' Courtroom Video Goes Viral

Video footage of Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba fidgeting in her courtroom seat during closing arguments for the former president's civil fraud trial has gone viral on social media.

Both sides in the $370 million lawsuit brought against Trump and his family business by New York Attorney General Letitia James presented their closing arguments before Judge Arthur Engoron on Thursday. The former president, however, was blocked by the presiding judge from giving his own closing statements after his legal team missed a series of deadlines. Newsweek contacted Trump's campaign team via email on Friday.

That didn't stop Trump's attorney Chris Kise from asking Engoron to allow the former president to speak after the defense concluded their statements. The judge asked Trump directly to promise to comment only on the law and facts of the case. However, the former president ignored Engoron's question and began talking immediately after Kise asked for permission, according to Lisa Rubin. She is a legal analyst for MSNBC who reported live from the courtroom Thursday.

"This was a political witch hunt; we should receive damages for what they have taken our company through. They have no documents—they have nothing!" Trump said, according to Rubin, who posted the comments on X, formerly Twitter.

"I am an innocent man," Trump added. "I have been politically persecuted... This statute is vicious."

Judge Engoron has already ruled Trump and the Trump Organization liable for fraud in the trial after they exaggerated the value of some of its assets and deceived lenders in the process. The former president has maintained throughout his fraud case that he is innocent and denies any wrongdoing. He remains the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Engoron is expected to make a final decision to determine the extent of penalties by the end of the month. The state has requested $370 million be paid in fines and that Trump, former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and ex-company executive Jeffrey McConney be banned from New York's real-estate industry for life. Lawyer Kevin Wallace has asked that Trump's adult sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., be banned for five years from the state's real-estate business.

As the day's courtroom events were discussed on social media, Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of media outlet MeidasTouch, shared footage of lawyer Habba sitting with Trump's team in court.

"Stop fidgeting," Filipowski captioned the eight-second clip, which showed Habba constantly moving her hands as she sat in silence.

The clip, which as of press time has been viewed more than 736,000 times, prompted a wave of responses from other X users, a number of whom wrote that Habba was nervous about the impending outcome of the trial.

"Alina looks nervous and terrified," posted one. "If she continues as Trumps lawyer she will be joining the club of Trump's previous lawyers—disgraced and disbarred."

Another tagged Habba's account as they asked: "Why so nervous @AlinaHabba?"

"It's hard to know what to do with your hands when you know you're about to be handed a judgment against your client north of $300 million," wrote a third.

"You can tell it's painful for her to keep her mouth shut," another posted. "She's used to grandstanding in front of reporters but the Judge is not having any of that."

Habba also had her fair share of supporters on X, including conservative commentator and YouTuber Benny Johnson. He shared footage of the lawyer speaking at one of Trump's properties, 40 Wall Street, following the closing arguments.

Captioning the clip, Johnson lauded Habba for what he described as her delivering a "perfect defense of President Trump while simultaneously exposing NY AG [Attorney General] Leticia James' political witchhunt in 60 seconds."

"I don't care what anyone says; Alina Habba is a bada**, and I'm glad Trump hired her as his lawyer," one supporter wrote.

"One has to be really good to be a Trump lawyer and spokesperson," another added. "This lady is really, really good."

In her address to the media at Trump property's 40 Wall Street, Habba said that "for anybody that has been in the courtroom for the last 11 weeks, you heard that there was not one fact against President Trump. There was not one piece of paper that showed anyone committed fraud."

Habba added that the Trump Organization "has single-handedly changed the New York skyline, including the building we are in today. These are special properties. Real estate is an art, not a science.

"But you know what else is an art? You know what else isn't a science? [Politically] motivated individuals," Habba said. "[James] is using this to paint a canvas that Donald Trump is a fraudster, because they can't beat him in the polls. They can't beat him in the polls, so she ran on Trump, because that was the only way she could win.

"And now today, after 11 weeks, after three years, we have concluded that he, indeed, committed no wrong. The Trump Organization committed no wrong. And the kids have been dragged in, just like the other defendants, and it is wrong. America needs to step up and there's only one person who can do that: my client, Donald Trump," Habba added.