Judge Kaplan Closes the Door on Alina Habba

Former President Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba has once again been shut down in Manhattan federal court by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

Kaplan, presiding over the ex-president's second E. Jean Carroll civil defamation trial in New York, told Habba during a hearing on Thursday that "the door is closed" after the Trump lawyer attempted to bring up the issue of Carroll receiving funding from billionaire Reid Hoffman, a founder of LinkedIn and major Democratic Party donor.

A ruling from Kaplan last year shut down discussion of Hoffman in the case and sealed related filings. The judge reportedly agreed with Carroll's legal team, calling the issue "irrelevant and tangential" to whether or not Trump defamed Carroll. Habba argued that the matter was relevant due to "the political overtones of this case."

Habba, who has faced backlash for a series of perceived blunders during the trial, confronted the judge on Thursday by arguing that Carroll's attorneys had "opened the door" on the issue by asking "about George Soros and the DNC (Democratic National Committee)," according to a post from the Inner City Press account on X, formerly Twitter.

"The door is open," Habba reportedly pleaded, prompting Kaplan to reply: "The door is closed. Let's bring in the jury."

Newsweek reached out for comment to Habba via email on Thursday.

While Hoffman has donated to Carroll's legal efforts, his role is unrelated to any of Carroll's substantive claims that Trump defamed and sexually abused her—for which the former president was already found liable and ordered to pay $5 million in a previous trial.

There is also no evidence that the DNC or Soros—a Jewish billionaire and Democratic donor who frequently features in right-wing conspiracy theories—played any role.

Habba's exchange concerning Hoffman was not the only time she was shut down by Kaplan on Thursday. The Trump lawyer was also told to "sit down" by the judge after she attempted to retroactively object to a video of the ex-president that she had allowed to play without objection.

Other notable moments during the trial have included Kaplan admonishing Habba for failing to properly introduce evidence before attempting to discuss it in court, telling her to both "stand up" and "sit down" on multiple occasions and instructing the jury to disregard Habba's statements after she "ignored" a ruling.

During one particularly tense incident, Habba complained to the judge that she did not "like to be spoken to that way" after he denied her attempt to delay the trial and told her to "sit down" when she continued to press the issue.

Habba has also unsuccessfully attempted to convince Kaplan to simply dismiss the case on more than one occasion, with the latest attempt coming before the jury was seated on Thursday.