Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba echoed her client’s frustrations that he might miss son Barron’s high school graduation because of appearing in court in his first criminal trial.
Habba, one of the more well known members of Trump’s legal team, is a civil attorney for the former president – so she did not appear alongside her client during his criminal proceedings Monday.
Trump lambasted Judge Juan Merchan in his historic hush money trial for the potential he could refuse him permission to get out of court to attend his 18-year-old son’s graduation next month.
The 77-year-old appeared in New York criminal court on Monday in the first day of jury selection in the case alleging he falsified documents related to payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about their affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
‘This is political,’ Habba told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday of the trial. ‘It’s election interference.’
Trump attorney Alina Habba lambasted Judge Juan Merchan for not ensuring former President Donald Trump will be able to get out of going to court in Manhattan on May 17 to attend his son’s high school graduation
Pictured with his father, Barron Trump, 18, is graduating from high school next month
‘You’re not even allowing a father – never mind a former president – but a father attend his son’s graduation?’ she lamented, adding: ‘It’s just a sad state of affairs for the American people. I can assure you of that.’
Some questioned why Habba wasn’t with the former president for his bombshell first appearance at the criminal trial in Manhattan on Monday.
She told conservative podcast The Benny Show of her absence: ‘Obviously, you know, being a type A person, I wish I was a criminal attorney but I’m not.’
‘But the great news is that, then I can do this and let everybody know what is actually happening,’ she countered.
Habba defended Trump in the civil trial in Manhattan were he was convicted of inflating the value of his businesses’ properties and ordered to pay $355 million plus interest.
Trump castigated Judge Merchan for stopping him going to the U.S. Supreme Court next week for a hearing related to January 6 at the same time he complained about potentially missing his son’s high school graduation.
He let loose outside the court after day one of jury selection as he became the first U.S. ex-president to stand criminal trial.
Barron, 18, graduates from high school on May 17 and the trial is set to still be going on by then.
A furious Trump said: ‘It looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation of my son who’s worked very, very hard.
Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower in Manhattan on Tuesday, April 16, for the second day of the historic criminal trial against him as jury selection continues from the day prior
‘He’s a great student and he’s very proud of the fact he did so well and was looking forward for years to having his graduation with his mother and father there, and it looks like the judge isn’t gong to allow me to escape this scam, it’ a scam trial.’
Habba slammed the judge for also not allowing those involved in the proceedings out to observe Passover.
‘And let’s not forget – Passover, ok?’ she said to Hannity on Monday. ‘Observant the Jews have a right to go and pray to who they want and observe Passover. And this judge would not allow it. Not for any of the attorneys.’
‘And there are observant Jewish attorneys on the Trump team and as well on the D.A. team.’
Merchan decided that the court will not meet on the last two days of the holiday, which lasts one week.
He did, however, refuse Trump permission to be at the Supreme Court next week for arguments related to charges against January 6 defendants for obstructing an official proceeding, a case which could impact other criminal trials against the former president.
Trump claimed it was part of a ‘political witch hunt’ that ‘continues forever’.
The former president said: ‘We’re not going to be given a fair trial. He’s a very conflicted judge. He won’t allow me to leave here for half a day go to D.C. and go before the U.S. Supreme Court because he thinks he’s superior, I guess, to the Supreme Court.
‘We’ve got a real problem with this judge and a real problem with a lot of things having to do with this trial.’
Outside the court, Trump lamented: ‘It looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation of my son who’s worked very, very hard. He’s a great student and he’s very proud of the fact he did so well and was looking forward for years to having his graduation with his mother and father there’
Trump said those problems included that ‘you go right outside and people are being mugged and killed all day long and he (the judge) is sitting here all day with about 10 or 12 prosecutors over nothing, over what people say shouldn’t be a trial.’
He went on: ‘That I can’t go to my son’s graduation, that I can’t go to the U.S. Supreme Court, that I’m not in Georgia or Florida or North Carolina campaigning like I should be…it’s perfect for the radical-left Democrats.
‘That’s exactly what they want. This is about election interference, that’s all its about.’
Earlier, Trump’s lawyers had asked the judge not to sit on the day of Barron’s graduation.
But the judge said he was not able to rule at this stage if the court could take that day off.
Judge Merchan said: ‘If everything is going according to schedule then I’m sure we’ll be able to adjourn…but if we’re running behind schedule we will not be able to. It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial.’
Merchan dismissed dozens of potential jurors on Monday who said they could not fairly decide whether the 2024 Republican presidential candidate illegally covered up a hush money payment to a porn star.
The judge told nearly 100 prospective jurors they must set aside any biases or personal attitudes about the defendant or the case, including ‘political orientation.’
At least 50 were dismissed after saying they could not be impartial in judging the highly divisive former president.
Trump appeared in a historic first day of criminal trial in Manhattan on Monday
Anti-Trump protesters hold signs and chant outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Monday, April 15 ahead of the former president’s arrival for the first day of jury selection in the hush money case
A supporter for the former president drives his truck by the courthouse in Manhattan on Monday while flying flags supporting Trump’s 2024 presidential bid
Others were excused who said they could not serve for other reasons.
‘I just couldn’t do it,’ one prospective juror was heard to say outside the courtroom.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, charged Trump with falsifying records to cover up a $130,000 payment in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels about a 2006 sexual encounter she has said they had.
Trump pleaded not guilty and has denied any extramarital relationship with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Former Trump lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen will testify during the criminal trial that he made the payment to buy Daniels’ silence ahead of the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump must attend the trial, which is expected to last through May, the judge said.
Lawyers from both sides will seek to impanel 12 jurors and six alternates to hear what could be the only criminal case Trump faces before the Nov. 5 election.
Choosing a jury from a pool of people from heavily Democratic Manhattan could take several days, to be followed by opening statements and testimony from a parade of potentially riveting witnesses, including Cohen and Daniels.
Judge Merchan said that in order to convict, jurors must find that Trump is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, not that he is ‘probably’ guilty.
A guilty verdict would not bar Trump from running for presidential office.
Falsifying business records in New York is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though many of those found guilty have been sentenced to fines or probation.
Prosecutors also asked the judge to fine Trump $1,000 for each of three social-media posts this month about Cohen and Daniels following a gag order that bans the former president from speaking about anyone involved in the trial.