The bullshit that Habba spews is for the MAGA voters, and will never see the inside of a courtroom. We have seen this charade before
If she makes that argument before an appeals court, I would love for the resulting judicial smackdown to be quite public.
I frequently find myself going back and forth wondering if Trump is supremely cynical, or just that stupid, or both (probably both).
I now find myself wondering the same about his enablers like Habba.
The legal commentary i have seen, some of it here on the Dope, is petty unanimous that Habba’s statements after the trial were bogus. It would be easy to assume she is talking big for the media, but she seems to be genuinely angry about it. Is she acting, or does she just not get it? I really don’t know.
Most lawyers, from what I can tell, maintain a certain distance from their arguments. They can present an impassioned defense, but you get the feeling they can walk away at the end of the day and put it away.
I don’t get that feeling from Habba, or some of Trumps other advisors.
One, pretty much the universal (not just dope) evaluation is that Habba is a pretty terrible lawyer, way out of their experience and depth, and hired by Trump for… reasons. Including possible (not yet proven at least) criminal conspiracy to defraud one of her own clients (!) on Trump’s behalf. So it surprises me not at all.
Second, how many times on the Dope alone have smart, rational, and often dispassionate posters gotten so worked up on a topic that they’re personally involved in (just intellectually, not even financially in many cases) and pulled warnings for behavior that they KNOW is against the rules?
Yeah, even if she knows it’s BS, she’s probably emotionally involved in pushing the arguments, and as suggested in multiple other threads, her compensation is likely entirely dependent upon success (and even then, probably not a given). So all the time and reputational damage from these cases only get validated if she gets paid by Trump (ha), the Republicans, or a sinecure from a new Trump administration or conservative think tank. Most of whom are probably going to balk if she failed to deliver.
So no, not surprised. You’re almost certainly correct, that it’s a combination of cynicism, stupidity (or faith if she’s a True Believer ™, with a soupcon of desperation).
This is a stepping stone for her. She’ll get a lot of work for as long as the MAGA thing continues and then a very well paid talking head gig at a conservative network.
And if that doesn’t work she can always take off her top.
Moderating:
Let’s not engage in this sort of misogynist humor. This comment generated multiple flags and I see why.
I’d posit that she’s feeling frustrated and humiliated by getting her ass handed to her regularly, and is following her client’s pattern of lashing out at anyone who they feel is wronging them.
Wasn’t my idea.
Moderating:
This in no way ameliorates your prior comment. We’re trying to lessen casual misogyny on this board, irrespective of what Twitter is doing.
Drop this commentary now. Further posts like these will result in a warning.
Holding out to the bitter end, no doubt.
I’m happy the jury made the right decision. I’ve always admired E. Jean’s writing.
Sure, Caretta Petacci took a nice picture too
This did not go unnoticed. 
I saw her media comments after the judgment. When you not only lose a case, but lose it so bigly that it’s humiliating, one will naturally be angry. The reality is that if Habba had never been hired and Trump had done nothing more than sit quietly and say nothing, the award – at least the punitive part of it – would almost certainly have been far less. Of course she’s angry – she’s been called out for being an idiot.
The question is, is Habba really that stupid, or is she so caught up in MAGAland that she no longer lives in reality? I’m going with “is really that stupid” based on her apparent inability to recognize how offensive her courtroom behaviour was, and letting her orange client engage in equally offensive behaviours, and yet somehow failing to see how this would lead to a disastrous outcome for her client.
As was said many times in many threads, good lawyers won’t touch Trump with a 20-foot barge pole. Habba is not a good lawyer. She’s aggressive as a rabid polecat, but she’s a terrible lawyer.
I think I am seeing that a lot from the republican side. They seem genuinely unaware that people can disagree with them. Back in 2016 during the first (and god willing, only) Trump administration when one of his spokesmen was out hawking his tax bill on NPR, the questioner asked why the Trump administration thought that cutting taxes would boost revenue when it hadn’t worked for Reagan or Bush. The Trump spokesman acted outraged and called the questioner an idiot and stormed out of the interview. It was a stunning display of childish bad temper. That seems to be characteristic of the Republicans these days.
In the ensuing 8 years, they’ve only gotten worse.
And she’s now number one on that list. She just cost him 83 million. She’s of course trying to pretend that she’s just as much of a victim as he is but Trump must be aware by now of the prevailing opinion that she is simply a terrible lawyer. It was always a losing case no matter what but she actively made it worse and in the worst way possible as far as Trump’s ego is concerned. She is on thin ice here, with nothing more than Trump’s rapidly-deteriorating brain being the only thing that might save her from becoming public enemy number one to Trump and his followers. That has to be a unique kind of stress.
In her slight defense, has anyone ever really been able to control him? Guide him, perhaps, but control?
Really. I’ve read multiple times that one of the reasons that reputable, skilled firms won’t go near him (in addition to the fact that they may not get paid) is that he may be the worst client in the world, ever, with perhaps the exception of clients who physically attack their own attorneys. Again, perhaps.
I’m a lawyer. I don’t know how good; that’s up to others to determine. But I do know this: I wouldn’t touch Trump with any kind of pole. He’s toxic.
I’m guessing that Habba took this matter simply because it’s Donald Trump, and she gets national exposure, and she can enhance her brand, and she likely thought that prestigious law firms would be lining up to hire her once this matter was done and she won.
I doubt they will be, after this loss. She proved that she’s a lousy lawyer. She couldn’t control her client, she didn’t ask for a jury trial when she should have (in whatever matter she should have, maybe not this one, there are so many), she was just inept when she needed to be … well, ept.
Yannow, Ms. Habba … I used to drive a truck. Would you like to learn?