Alina Habba Question Sparks Laughter From E. Jean Carroll's Lawyers

Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll were seen laughing when they were asked a question about attorneys for Donald Trump.

Carroll and her lawyers Roberta Kaplan and Shawn Crowley appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Carroll, a former columnist for Elle, made a face once Maddow asked: "How is President Trump's lawyering, is he well represented in court?"

Kaplan responded: "I will say that what you heard just now in that tape of Alina Habba leaving the court and kind of yelling at the reporters, that's what we heard every single day, multiple times during this trial, but yelling at the judge."

Newsweek has approached Habba's office via email for comment out of hours.

A jury in the New York defamation trial awarded Carroll $83 million in damages on January 26.

"It was unbelievably nerve wracking," Kaplan continued.

Crowley said: "I think that she had a hard job and you could definitely see a difference between her sort of style when [Trump] was in the court room."

She added: "She was much more disciplined and frankly acted more like a lawyer when he wasn't there. When he was, you could hear him telling her when to object and muttering things and loudly being frustrated with her."

Habba, who faced repeated criticism from legal commentators during the trial, told reporters outside the court on January 26 that the verdict was a "violation of our justice system."

She complained that she had not been able to bring up what she deemed to be important parts of Trump's defense in court.

A jury ruled last year that Trump had sexually assaulted and defamed Carrol. This trial was to determine the number in damages Carroll was to be awarded.

As a result, Judge Lewis Kaplan, no relation, ordered that Trump cannot say he did not make statements in 2019 "with actual malice," or that Carroll lied about being sexually assaulted because of the previous trial.

During the trial, Trump interrupted Kaplan to say he had "never met this woman." Habba asked during testimony if Trump rejected the claims against him.

"She said something I thought it was a false accusation," Trump replied, causing Roberta Kaplan to object and it was struck from the record.

Kaplan also told Habba on January 26 she was on the "verge of spending some time in the lockup" after she contested a ruling.

Despite the criticism against Habba, some have said Trump was a difficult client to represent.

When Roberta Kaplan began her closing argument, Trump walked out of the courtroom.

The Carroll lawyer told CNN's Anderson Cooper she felt this act "hurt him terribly."

"I mean, our whole case is about the fact that Donald Trump is unable to follow the law, unable to follow the rules, he thinks they don't apply to him," she said."

Both Trump and Habba have said they expect to appeal the verdict. "This is far from over," Habba said on X.