Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba suggested that she does not expect the verdict in the civil fraud case to be favorable to her client when it is handed down this week.
The case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accused Trump and top executives at The Trump Organization of committing fraud by falsely inflating and deflating the value of its assets to receive lower taxes and better insurance coverage, a claim they denied at trial.
However, Judge Arthur Engoron already found Trump, his sons Don Jr. and Eric and their companies liable for fraud. The trial was to determine damages.
James is seeking $370 million.
In an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday, Habba told host Eric Bolling that she does not have “high hopes” in the ruling and indicated she would file an appeal if it is not favorable to Trump.
“If I could file the appeal now, I would,” Habba said. “There’s no surprises coming here. It’s much of the same that we’ve seen in New York. And I’ll be loud and booming after we get the decision.”
“I don’t have high hopes. I do believe that there is some, you know, ethics left,” she continued. “I hope that Judge Engoron sees through this but quite honestly I’ve seen it time and time again. I’ve been on weeks and weeks and weeks of trial in New York and the corruption runs deep, the Trump derangement syndrome frankly runs even deeper and they can’t see straight.”
The trial included several heated exchanges between Engoron and Trump’s legal team, including at one point when the judge asked Trump attorney Chris Kise to “control” his client, according to Newsweek. In another exchange Engoron scolded Habba, telling her, Trump was there to answer questions, not give a speech.
Trump also took the stand at trial but that may have backfired and hurt his own case.
