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Trump attorney and spokeswoman Alina Habba came out swinging this week, stating that the Manhattan trial being waged against President Trump was “already over.” She argued that thus far there has been no proof of “essential elements of the alleged crime.”
Her comments come after Fox News pointed out that Michael Cohen’s former lawyer, Bob Costello, told Congress this week that the now-disbarred attorney and star witness in the hush money case in Manhattan lied about the Stormy Daniels debacle.
“‘I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,’” Costello quoted Cohen as saying around ten times, per the New York Post.
In response to a question regarding whether Costello’s testimony could positively close the case for Trump, Habba told Fox News, “Well, I’m not sure it really should have begun, I think the case, frankly, is already over. And I don’t think it hinges on Bob Costello’s testimony, I’ll be frank. They haven’t proved essential elements of the crime that is at hand. What they have done is created a lot of noise and a lot of distraction for the American people – giving you some salacious stories.”
She added, “But don’t forget what this is: this is about how they booked something at Trump Tower in the accounting department, whether they should have put ‘legal expense.’ That’s it! And you want to show me that Donald Trump, who was sitting in the White House, had any idea about that OR that it was done incorrectly? Both things, I haven’t seen.”
Habba noted that closing arguments in this case would be a “critical point” along with the “jury instructions.”
“We’ve heard evidence come in on the case that should not have come in. We’ve heard testimony that is outside of the of the realm and scope of this case. The issue I have is, even with limiting instructions, it’s not really going to un-ring the bell and the jury’s heard it,” said Habba.
She noted that in a trial where so much testimony was “confusing” and jury instructions could potentially be difficult to follow, “you can have a devastating result.”
Habba concluded by reiterating the closing arguments in the case, along with the critical jury instructions, would be the crux upon which the verdict was levied.
