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Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba said she is "confident" that the $454 million fine imposed on the former president in the New York fraud civil case will be overturned.
Habba suggested in an interview with the online show X22 Report that Trump was the victim of "selective prosecution" over the case filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The show has been banned on YouTube and Spotify over promotion of QAnon conspiracy theories. A Spotify spokesperson told Insider that the company "prohibits content on the platform that promotes, advocates or incites violence against others," and confirmed that the platform had taken down four other QAnon-related shows.
In February, New York Judge Arthur Engoron ordered that Trump pay a $355 million fine, increasing to $454 million with interest, after ruling that the former president filed fraudulent financial statements that inflated the value of his properties and assets for years.
Trump has vowed to appeal the ruling, but must first pay a cash bond, which could total more than $500 million, raising speculation on whether he has enough liquid cash to put forward before appealing the decision.
Speaking to X22 Report, Habba said that Trump's civil trial was "predetermined" and they had "lost before we even walked in." Engoron ruled that the former president had committed fraud in his financial statements and that the proceedings in New York were mainly to determine the size of the penalty.
"So it was a damages trial. And of course the left wants to paint it as this massive loss, the reality is, she [James] had it in the bag. We had a judge that was definitely partial to her side," Habba said.
"And despite the fact that witnesses frankly had said that they were great clients, we all made money, they did nothing wrong, we got slammed with this egregious number, and I'm confident we'll overturn it."
Habba reiterated Trump's allegation that the case brought by James was "political," as the New York Attorney General long vowed to investigate Trump even before she entered office in 2019.
"It's not even from the beginning, it's before she got into office she said she was going to do this," Habba said. "She ran on getting Trump, she said she was going go to work, go get Trump and come out. That is political prosecution. There is no place for selective prosecution."
James' office has been contacted for comment via email.
In recent court filings, James argued that Trump must either pay the fine or cash bond immediately, arguing that there is a "significant risk" the former president will try and get out of doing so if he loses his appeal.
Trump had asked a New York state appeals court to pause the judgment against forcing him to pay the fine or the cash bond needed to appeal, or only allow him to put down $100 million.
On March 11, James asked the court to deny Trump's request, arguing there would be "substantial risks" if Trump is allowed to appeal the case without posting the full bond.
"There is significant risk that absent a full bond or deposit, defendants will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment or to make enforcement more difficult after an appeal," James wrote.
If the appeals court rules against him, Trump will have until March 25 to either pay a $454 million penalty or secure the cash bond needed to appeal.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more