Alina Habba, the attorney for former President Donald Trump, blasted Judge Arthur Engoron for telling her to "sit down" and said that "I'm not here to hear what he has to say" during the former president's testimony in the civil fraud trial out of New York.
"Why exactly am I being paid as an attorney, and why exactly are taxpayer dollars being used in this courtroom? The answer is very clear. Because Ms. [Letitia] James wants to stand right here like she did this morning and call my client a liar. Call the company fraudulent. And make a name for herself," Habba said outside of the courthouse on Monday.
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Trump took the witness stand in the $250 million civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Engoron was short with the former president to the point of shouting at Trump's defense attorneys to remain seated after they began responding to Engoron's complaints that Trump was giving "speeches" instead of answering questions appropriately.
"Mr. [Chris] Kise, can you control your client? This is not a political rally," Engoron said.
At one point, Trump said, unprompted into the microphone, "This is a very unfair trial. Very, very, and I hope the public is watching."
Habba echoed her client, railed against Engoron for telling her to be silent, and said that "everyone has a right in this country to get up and put a defense."
"This country is falling apart, and if we don’t stop corruption in courtrooms where attorneys are gagged, where attorneys are not allowed to say what they need to say to protect their clients’ interest, it doesn’t matter what your politics are," Habba said.
"I don’t care who you are. You have a right to hire a lawyer who can put objections on the record. You have a right to hire a lawyer who can stand up and say something when they see something wrong. But I was told to sit down today," Trump's lawyer said, adding that she would not "tolerate" the behavior of an "unhinged" judge.
Habba went on to criticize James for speaking ahead of the trial on Monday and calling Trump a "bully." James told reporters that "before [Trump] takes the stand, I am certain that he will engage in name-calling and taunts and race-baiting and call this a witch hunt."
"Ms. James, you taunted him. Before you came into office, before you saw one record, one statement of financial condition, you taunted him," Habba said. "You said his administration was too male and too pale. Those are her words."
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She added that James "picked the wrong person."
"When you let my client speak the truth and the judge can tell me to sit down and he can try and shorten my client’s testimony," Habba said, "but it is loud and clear they’ve got nothing. They’ve got nothing but their politics."