Alina Habba Goes on Furious Tirade Against Judge Engoron

Donald Trump lawyer Alina Habba launched a blistering attack against the judge overseeing the $250 million civil fraud trial in New York amid a heated day of testimony from the former president.

Speaking outside the New York courtroom on Monday, Habba accused Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the case, of being "unhinged" after he clashed with the former president and his lawyers several times during Trump's testimony.

Trump answered questions under oath as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit accusing him of filing fraudulent financial statements for years which inflated the value of several of his properties and assets. Trump has denied all wrongdoing, but Engoron has already ruled that the former president is liable for fraud in connection to the filings and the civil trial will mainly determine the size of the penalty.

During his testimony, Trump and Engoron had several fiery exchanges, with the judge telling the former president to answer questions directly rather than give "speeches" while on the stand. Engoron even asked Trump attorney Chris Kise "can you control your client? This is not a political rally," as the former president gave another long-winded response to a question.

Habba then defended Trump, telling Engoron that the judge is here to "hear what he has to say." Engoron gave an angry response to Habba's interjection, telling the attorney: "I'm not here to hear what he has to say. He's here to answer questions," while demanding she sits down.

In a statement outside the court, Habba said she is not going to "tolerate" being yelled at by a judge and that she was only doing her job as an attorney when defending the former president's responses in court.

"'I'm not here to hear what he has to say.' Then why exactly am I being paid as an attorney and why exactly are taxpayer dollars being used in this courtroom?" Habba said.

"It doesn't matter what your politics are. Everyone has a right in this country to get up and put up a defense. I don't care who you are. You have a right to hire a lawyer who can put objections on the record. You have a right to hire a lawyer who can stand up and say something when they see something wrong," Habba added.

"But I was told to sit down today, I was yelled at, and I've had a judge who was unhinged slamming a table. Let me be very clear, I don't tolerate that in my life, I'm not going to tolerate it here. And you know what? You shouldn't either, because not every American citizen gets a camera and a microphone. And what I'm seeing is such a demise of American judicial system and democracy."

The New York Supreme Court has been contacted for comment via email.

Habba then attacked James and claimed the Attorney General's office has got "nothing" and that the case against the former president is politically motivated.

Habba also hit out at the extension of the gag order issued by Engoron to stop Trump attacking court staff during the civil trial to also include herself and Kise. Trump and his lawyers are free to criticize Engoron and the case against the former president as part of the gag order.

"Pay attention America. Because when you're in court one of these days, and you don't have a lawyer that has a microphone, and you don't have a lawyer that can go on TV, and you've got judges gagging them, what are you going to do?" Habba added. "We need to fix this country. And we need to stop what is happening in this courtroom."

The New York court will not be sitting on Tuesday as there are numerous general elections held across the state on November 7. The civil trial proceedings will resume on Wednesday with the testimony of the former president's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump.