Judge Kaplan Threatens to Throw Alina Habba in Jail

Donald Trump's lawyer in the second E. Jean Carroll defamation case, Alina Habba, was reportedly scolded by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday.

Reporters in the courtroom on Friday said that Kaplan told Habba: "You are on the verge of spending some time in the lockup. Now, sit down." The term "lockup" in the context purportedly refers to her being sent to jail.

Politico's Erica Orden wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Kaplan's warning followed an attempt by Habba and Michael Madaio, another Trump attorney, to include a slide showing X posts that they hadn't already entered as evidence.

The exchange occurred before the start of opening statements, according to The Messenger's Adam Klasfeld.

The current civil trial in New York follows the sexual battery and defamation lawsuit that Carroll previously won against Trump in May 2023, when a different jury ruled Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll at a department store in the 1990s and then defaming her character while denying the assault took place. Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in damages.

Carroll is now seeking over $10 million in damages based on statements Trump made in 2019 in which he denied the assault, including one in which he suggested Carroll made up the attack to sell copies of her book. As the trial was postponed earlier this week due to a juror contracting COVID, Trump—who has claimed his past remarks made while denying the assault took place are protected under absolute immunity—posted about Carroll dozens of times on social media, using her past statements and interviews against her.

The judge also reportedly scolded Trump and Habba for arriving late to court for closing arguments.

On Thursday, Habba mishandled an opportunity to kill evidence that the jury in the case may find important in determining damages.

Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, submitted into evidence a video of the former president that was borrowed from a January 17 Newsmax clip.

Trump said in the video: "I have no idea who [Carroll] was and nor could I care less. It's a rigged deal. It's a made-up, fabricated story."

As part of another altercation between Habba and Judge Kaplan, Habba said she had no objection to the clip being played. It led to this exchange:

Judge Kaplan: "When was that?"

Habba: "We met and conferred and objected."

Judge Kaplan: "This just came in without objection."

Habba then replied, "Yes, but..." and Kaplan told her to "have a seat."

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is available.