Too True To Be Good

Among other things, she's speaking to the Judge as if he's an opponent on a cable news panel, which strikes me as not wise? Also, the bailiff keeps having to tell her to stop talking over the judge.

— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) February 17, 2022

I was going to pass on posting about this from the Raw Story account of it; but Twitter is an irresistable box of chocolates.

She keeps trying to make the argument that the prosecution is invalid because Mr Trump is in a "special class" of person whose rights are protected, and the judge keeps saying, Wha?

— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) February 17, 2022

Lawyer for AG James quotes former AG Morgenthau, who was accused of prosecuting Roy Cohn out of personal vendetta:

"A person is not immune from prosecution because the AG doesn't like him."

— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) February 17, 2022

Clerk to Habba:

"Counselor, when the judge speaks, you need to stop speaking."

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) February 17, 2022

In fairness, I will say that some of Trump's lawyers actually had a legal argument to make:

Trump's lawyers told Judge Arthur Engoron during the hearing that having him sit for a civil deposition now, while his company is also the subject of a parallel criminal investigation, is an improper attempt to get around a state law barring prosecutors from calling someone to testify before a criminal grand jury without giving them immunity.

“If she wants sworn testimony from my client, he’s entitled to immunity. He gets immunity for what he says, or he says nothing," said Trump's criminal defense lawyer, Ronald Fischetti.

If Trump testifies in the civil probe, anything he says could be used against him in the criminal investigation being overseen by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Trump could invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent in a deposition. But Fischetti said if he did so, it could still hurt a potential criminal defense.

“If he goes in and follows my advice, which will be you cannot answer these questions without ... immunity because that’s what the law provides, and take the Fifth Amendment, that’ll be on every front page in the newspaper in the world. And how can I possibly pick a jury in that case?” Fischetti said.

Obviously that argument is not the one Mr. Sagal is reporting. 

There are comments on Twitter about Habbas' qualifications or why she's doing this. None of that is relevant. As an officer of the court and a licensed lawyer, she is bound to observe certain rules of decorum and maintain certain standards of legal argument. I don't mean she's treading on malpractice or violating a Bar disciplinary rule; sheer incompetence is not grounds for disbarment in and of itself. But she is expected to know better, or just not present herself in court at all.

Because this is how it turned out:

BREAKING: Former President Donald Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Jr. must sit for depositions in the New York attorney general’s civil investigation, a judge rules https://t.co/YZJWmpMTyo

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 17, 2022

And now this is where we are:

If Trump takes the Fifth, it can be used against him in the civil case being developed by the New York Attorney General.

If Trump doesn’t take the Fifth, the Manhattan DA can use his words against him.

He’s between a rock and a hard place. https://t.co/Qk9hIghhLu

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) February 17, 2022