Donald Trump Moves To Cash In on Brett Kavanaugh

Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba has said that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh would be among the judges to throw out the decision disqualifying the former president from the ballot in Colorado as Trump "went through hell" to get him to the bench.

Speaking to Fox News' Sean Hannity, Habba singled out Kavanaugh as one of those on the SCOTUS bench who will "step up" for Trump after the Colorado Supreme Court made a historic ruling in December to ban Trump from running for president in the state over violating the Constitution's insurrection clause around the January 6 attack.

Trump has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court and has denied that his actions related to the Capitol riots violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The section, brought in after the Civil War, states that a person who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" after taking an oath of office to support the Constitution cannot run for office again.

The conservative majority Supreme Court bench, which includes three justices nominated to the bench by Trump—Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch—is expected to take on the case, and rule on whether to allow or throw out the Colorado decision.

Habba predicted that the Supreme Court would make a "slam dunk" ruling in Trump's favor while suggesting Kavanaugh is one of the nine justices who will want to overturn the decision to ban Trump from running for office in Colorado.

"People like Kavanaugh, who the president fought for, who the president went through hell to get into place, he'll step up," Habba said.

"Those people will step up, not because they're pro-Trump, but because they're pro-law, because they're pro-fairness and the law on this is very clear."

Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court bench in October 2018 after being nominated by then-president Trump. Kavanaugh's confirmation proceeding was dogged by multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against him, including allegations from Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor, that he sexually assaulted her at a house party in 1982. Kavanaugh denied the allegations.

Habba's comments were condemned as an apparent attempt to influence how Kavanaugh will rule on the Colorado decision, or suggesting that his vote will be based on his allegiance to Trump rather than the rule of law after a clip of the interview was posted on social media.

"If Alina Habba is right and Justice Kavanaugh feels in any way that he owes Trump and will 'step up,' then she should be sanctioned by the bar for saying this on TV, & thus trying to prejudice a proceeding," Michael Kagan, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Olivia Troye, who served as a homeland security and counter-terrorism advisor to former vice president Mike Pence, whose relationship with Trump fell apart in the wake of the January 6 attack, added: "Don't ever forget that the wannabe mob boss will always cash in on his favors...Habba saying it loud & clear for Justice Kavanaugh."

Mark S. Zaid, a Washington D.C.-based lawyer, said the remarks were "yet another example of Habba demonstrating how unprofessional she is as an attorney."

Reacting to the criticism, Habba told Newsweek: "As I have stated multiple times, the Constitution and law speak for itself and I believe every Justice will decide on this clear-cut issue fairly.

"Left-wing media's attempt to intimidate judges who have been put through rigorous vetting due to who they were appointed by is ridiculous and that is exactly why I addressed it. This is about the Constitution and due process, nothing else."

Trump frequently defended Kavanaugh while he faced the sexual assault allegations, later apologizing to the judge "for the terrible pain and suffering" he endured while dealing with the claims. Trump was accused of dismissing the credibility of the women who came forward with the allegations, including mocking Ford's versions of events.

Elsewhere in her interview with Hannity, Habba lashed out at the states of Colorado and Maine for banning Trump from running for office while citing the insurrection clause when the former president has not been charged or prosecuted with such an act.

"Insurrection under the 14th Amendment was to prevent people from a war, who were pro-slavery, who were anti-American, from taking office," Habba said. "That is not this. He has never been charged for it—due process, I would like to think, still exists in this country."

Trump has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges of conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing a congressional proceeding, and conspiracy against rights under Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into an alleged criminal attempt to overturn the 2020 election results and the events which led up to the January 6 attack.