Judge Kaplan May Refer Alina Habba to Bar for Discipline: Legal Analyst

Judge Lewis Kaplan may refer Donald Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, to the bar for discipline after she violated the judge's orders in the former president's defamation case, a legal analyst said.

Friday marked the last day of the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial against Trump in New York City. Carroll, a former Elle columnist, sued Trump in 2019 after he claimed she was lying about sexual assault allegations against him. Carroll accused Trump, while he was still president in 2019, of raping her in a New York City department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Trump has maintained his innocence in both cases and continues to deny the sexual assault allegations. He claimed the case is politically motivated—as are the four criminal indictments and one other civil case he is facing—because he is the Republican front-runner for the 2024 presidential nomination.

During the trial, Judge Kaplan, who is presiding over the case, advised Trump and his lawyers to not repeat claims that he did not sexually assault Carroll, as a jury ruled last May that the former president was liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a separate 2022 lawsuit filed by Carroll.

But Trump said on the witness stand Thursday that Carroll's accusations were "false." During closing arguments on Friday, Habba said that Trump continues to deny the sexual assault allegations because it was "the truth" and said that Carroll's story had "more holes than Swiss cheese."

Kaplan objected to both of Habba's statements and warned her that if she violated his orders again, there would be "consequences."

Erica Orden, legal reporter for Politico, posted a snippet of Habba's closing argument on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: "Ladies and gentlemen, imagine you're living your life. You have a beautiful family, a wife, kids. And you have a very serious job to do. You work long days and long nights. And all of a sudden, you are hit with an allegation. There are no facts --"

Joyce Vance, a U.S. attorney during the Obama administration, replied to Orden's post, writing: "Habba violates a clear order from the Judge. She can take it up with the court of appeals if she thinks it's wrong, but she doesn't get to ignore it. She lacks respect for the rule of law, just like her client."

"It would not be surprising to see the judge refer Habba to the Bar Association for disciplinary action, given her multiple violations of this order after being warned repeatedly," Vance said in a follow-up post.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's and Carroll's lawyers as well as Trump's campaign via email for comment.

Kaplan ruled in September that Trump is liable for defamation in the 2019 lawsuit based on the findings of the jury last May. The current trial is to determine how much Trump will pay in damages to Carroll. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million last May and this time is seeking at least $10 million.