Alina Habba Issues Warning if Donald Trump Jailed
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump greets supporters at sandwich stop Tony and Nick's steaks on June 22, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Trump lawyer Alina Habba has said there would be "uproar" if Trump is jailed following his New York conviction.
Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba has warned of an "uproar" if the former president is jailed after being convicted in his hush money criminal trial.
Trump became the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime after he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. Daniels alleged having a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier, which Trump has denied. He has falsely blasted the trial as "rigged" after the verdict and said he would appeal.
Trump is set to be sentenced on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention, where party members are set to formally make him their nominee for president.
Each felony count of falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars, but prosecutors have not said if they would seek incarceration. It's not clear if Judge Juan M. Merchan will impose time behind bars.
In an appearance on Fox News' Hannity, Habba said she "wouldn't put it past" the judge to hand down a prison sentence while Trump is campaigning to win back the White House.
"We're going to see what they recommend from the prosecution's side, obviously there's some back and forth," she told host Sean Hannity. "But I don't put anything past them."
Habba went on to reference comments made on The View by the show's co-host Sunny Hostin after Trump was convicted. Hostin said she had heard from "someone" in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, which prosecuted the case, that a one-year prison sentence would be sought "because when you spend a year in prison in New York, or under, you serve in Rikers Island."
"First and foremost, why are you speaking to anybody from the DA's office?" Habba said.
"Secondly, the fact is, I wouldn't put anything past them, Sean. They couldn't beat him when they put him in court, they couldn't beat him when they put gag orders on every single case. But now, they're going to try and jail him, I don't doubt it."
She added: "It will literally cause an uproar in this country. They cannot do it."
Bragg's office has been contacted for comment via email.
Habba also suggested that Democrats were seeking to imprison Trump to help President Joe Biden's re-election campaign.
"It would be ridiculously desperate," she said. "But hey, they are. They can't win. Biden's their candidate."
Merchan on Tuesday modified the gag order in the case, allowing Trump to comment about witnesses and jurors in the hush money trial but left in place a ban on Trump commenting about court staffers, the prosecution team and their families until he is sentenced. Trump is still allowed to comment on the judge and Bragg.
Trump is also charged in three other criminal cases, but it is not clear if any of them will go to trial before November.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon rule on whether Trump has immunity from criminal charges over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
In another federal case, he is charged with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and obstructing the government's efforts to get them back. Trump is also charged alongside several others with participating in a scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow loss to Biden in the 2020 election in Georgia. He has denied any wrongdoing in all of the cases.
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