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Legal experts have suggested one of Donald Trump's lawyers violated a gag order early on in a trial in New York.
Alina Habba is representing the former president in the civil defamation case brought in New York by columnist E. Jean Carroll. The trial in the case began with jury selection earlier this week.
Multiple news reports said Habba earned a stern comment from U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over the case.
Habba reportedly said, "President Trump defended himself," before she was cut off by Kaplan, who told her: "Don't go much farther."
Newsweek has approached Habba for a response via email to her law firm.
Last week, Kaplan issued an order that said Trump could not discuss the following: Carroll's choice of counsel; DNA; funding for litigation; Carroll's previous romantic relationships and sexual experiences, and "suggesting or implying" that Trump did not sexually abuse her.
In May last year, a jury held that Trump had sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll. Trump hopes to appeal this, but the trial that began this week is to determine if previous defamatory statements caused Carroll harm and if so, how much she is owed in damages.
Trump has denied sexually assaulting her at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s in New York. He says he "never met, saw, or touched" Carroll. The writer is suing Trump for defamation over the former president's continued denial of the assault.
Kaplan said that Trump cannot say he did not make statements in 2019 "with actual malice," or that Carroll lied about being sexually assaulted.
Following the latest courtroom exchange, analysts have argued Habba is in breach of the judge's order.
Writer for the progressive magazine The New Republic, Tori Otten, said Habba "may have already blown Trump's defense."
The co-founder of the liberal news network MeidasTouch, Ben Meiselas, said: "I predicted Alina Habba would violate the court order in 20 seconds during her opening, it took her about 8 seconds."
Former Department of Justice (DoJ) litigator Gene Rossi told Newsweek that Kaplan could have caused a problem for herself with her comment, but this is for the judge to decide.
"Trump's lawyer may have possibly put her toe in the water, if not in her foot in her mouth, with a comment that tested the trial judge's patience," he said. "Yet, at the end of the day, the judge may stand down, not take the bait, and let the trial play out."
Trump has continued to make comments about Carroll outside the courtroom on his Truth Social media platform. Newsweek approached Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan, no relation to Judge Kaplan, via email for comment.
Habba and Kaplan had disagreed in court on whether the trial should be postponed so Trump could attend his mother-in-law's funeral on January 18.
Kaplan refused a request for a week-long adjournment, pointing out that Trump did not have to be in court if he chose not to be.
Habba has increasingly been seen as one of the faces of Trump's legal defense in many cases including in the civil fraud case involving The Trump Organization.
Trump and his conglomerate were found liable for fraud after deceiving lenders on the value of some of his assets in a summary judgment after a suit was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Habba also represented Trump in a case brought by former Trump Organization lawyer Michael Cohen, which was later dismissed by a judge.
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About the writer
Benjamin Lynch is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is U.S. politics and national affairs and he ... Read more