Alina Habba Breaks Silence After Disappearance

Alina Habba kept a low profile after former President Donald Trump suggested she would not represent him in a major appeal case but has since broken her silence.

Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million in damages to former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll over statements made in 2019. On his Truth Social media platform, Trump said on Wednesday that he was interviewing "various law firms" to represent him in the expected appeal, potentially replacing Habba as counsel on the case.

Since the trial, Habba, a regular user of social media sites X and Instagram, appears to have made only two posts on either website but has not spoken publicly. Her performance came under scrutiny during the trial after heated verbal exchanges with Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has been called a "bully" by Trump on Truth Social.

Newsweek approached a spokesperson for Trump and Habba's media representative and law firm for comment via email after hours.

Trump was forced to pay $7.3 million in compensatory damages, $11 million for reputational repair, and $65 million in punitive damages to Carroll.

On Truth Social, Trump said: "I am in the process, along with my team, of interviewing various law firms to represent me in an Appeal of one of the most ridiculous and unfair Witch Hunts our Country has ever seen—The defamation Sham presided over by a Clinton appointed, highly partisan, Trump Hating Judge, Lewis Kaplan, who was, together with certain other Radical Left Democrat Judges, one of the most partisan and out of control activists that I have ever appeared before."

Trump has not criticized Habba

Despite Trump's Truth Social post, Habba posted a picture of herself with Kimberly Guilfoyle, one of Trump's advisers and fiancée of Donald Trump Jr, and Israeli-American TV personality Siggy Flicker.

This was followed by a post on February containing four photos of Habba attending an even for the children's cancer charity Curetivity, set up by Eric Trump.

Habba's post showed her pictured again with Guilfoyle and Flicker, along with Curetivity board member Ryan S. Hager, lawyer and former The Apprentice contestant Erin Melmore, Eric Trump and Curetivity Director Paige Scardigli. One other unconfirmed person was also pictured.

Habba has been a key part of Trump's legal defense in two major cases, including the Carroll case. Habba also represented the 45th president in his civil fraud trial in New York.

On X, Habba liked a post in response to a report on Trump's Truth Social statement that said changing lawyers during an appeal was a "common legal exercise."

She also liked a tweet from self-professed Trump loyalist and author Roger Stone that said: "Alina Habba is not an appeals lawyer. She did an excellent job under difficult circumstances."

Trump added on Truth Social that any lawyer who took on one of his cases was either "crazy" or a "true American patriot." He also suggested Habba had difficulty with Judge Kaplan during the trial. He said Kaplan was "telling" Habba what to ask her own client on the witness stand.

Kaplan had ruled Trump cannot say he did not make statements in 2019 "with actual malice," or that Carroll lied about being sexually assaulted because of the previous trial.

Replacing a lawyer when moving to an appeals process is not uncommon.

"If you've already been through a trial with your defense attorney, chances are you've developed a good relationship and want them to handle the next phase of your case," online legal information site FindLaw says.

"However, that may not be the right option for either you or your attorney. The truth is, getting a different lawyer for an appeal is the smart way to go. The process and skills required are different than those pertaining to trial-level proceedings."

Habba's court performance

Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, no relation, said she repeatedly saw Habba "yelling" in court, while fellow counsel Shawn Crowley said Habba acted less like a lawyer when her client was there.

"She was much more disciplined and frankly acted more like a lawyer when he wasn't there," Crowley said. "When he was, you could hear him telling her when to object and muttering things and loudly being frustrated with her."

A jury ruled last year that Trump had sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll. The most recent trial was to determine the total in damages.

On January 26, Kaplan told Habba she was on the "verge of spending some time in the lockup" after she contested a ruling.

Trump, who was not obliged to attend the trial, walked out of the courtroom after Roberta Kaplan began her closing argument. The judge had ruled that Habba was not allowed to use a particular slide in her closing argument.

Update 2/2/24, 10:41 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.