āGlaringly obviousā incompetence on display as judge tells jury to ādisregard everything Ms. Habba just saidā
Trump lawyer Alina Habba struggled through her cross-examination of E. Jean Carroll on Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the defamation case against the former president, repeatedly admonished the attorney for running afoul of his court rules and general procedures.
Prior to Carrollās testimony, Habba requested an adjournment so that Trump could attend his mother-in-lawās funeral.
āThe application is denied. I will hear no further argument on it. None. Do you understand that word? None. Please sit down,ā Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee, told Habba about the motion that he already denied.
Kaplan repeatedly interrupted Habbaās questions, including when she began to read from a document that had not been formally entered into evidence, sending the trial to a recess.
Make no mistake, her job is incredibly simple: stall and waste as much of the courtās time as possible and give Trump potential mistrial grounds.
When I read about her glaringly obvious mistakes (according to an article regarding admitting evidence,stating positions on things where the judge said sheād turn into a witness if her statement was true) that was the first thing that came to mind, sheās there to make it last longer, and doesnāt seem like the courts have a way to handle it well without a new trial so it goes slowly. Trump is like a full blown security test on US political and legal systems and they arenāt performing well to his strategies.