Alina Habba Fires Back After Being Told Trump Appeal Won't Succeed

Alina Habba shot back at a column by a legal expert that predicted she and the rest of Donald Trump's legal team would not fully succeed in their appeal after the former president was hit with a $350 million fine.

In a column in the National Review, lawyer Andrew McCarthy said he expected a reduction in the financial penalty against him but that the result of an appeal was unlikely to go further than that. "To my mind, it is unlikely that Trump's appeal will result in a clean win for either side," McCarthy said in the article published February 20.

Habba has been a prominent part of Trump's legal team which is expected to file an appeal after Judge Arthur Engoron said Trump must pay $354.9 million in penalties after being found liable for business fraud.

McCarthy's words were read out to Habba on the Fox News show The Story with Martha MacCallum, who said she would "welcome him to be part of the legal team if he knows the case better than the team that tried it for 11 weeks."

She added: "I've been on this case for the better of three years and I can tell you right now there are truly no facts that support any of these decisions and that again I can say will be made very clear in our appeal."

Newsweek was unable to successfully contact McCarthy.

McCarthy also wrote: "I anticipate that he will get material relief in terms of the dollar amount, but I wouldn't hold my breath on the rest of the penalties. And those penalties matter, a lot."

McCarthy wrote that he believed the civil case to be "nakedly partisan" and that he hoped it would get "overturned on appeal."

James' office declined to comment when approached by Newsweek.

During the trial, Judge Engoron dismissed claims that the suit brought against Trump was politically motivated.

James previously said that "Justice has been served" in the Trump case.

"This is a tremendous victory for this state, this nation, and for everyone who believes that we all must play by the same rules—even former presidents," she said in a statement.

Trump's Expected Appeal

Trump's appeal has not yet been filed, but Chris Kise, Trump's principal lawyer in the case, told Newsweek that this will occur within the required 30-day time period.

The case "Raises serious legal and constitutional questions regarding 'fraud' claims/findings without any actual fraud," Kise said.

Engoron ruled in his judgment that Trump is also banned from taking out bank loans in New York and serving as a company director for three years.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, the former president's two adult sons, were ordered to pay $4 million each and were barred from doing business in New York for two years.

A suit by New York Attorney General Letitia James said all three, The Trump Organization and two firm executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney, fraudulently overstated the value of assets to deceive lenders. The Trump Organization was also prevented from applying for loans in New York for three years.

Trump and the other "defendants" have always denied any wrongdoing.