Trump May Have Just Violated His Gag Order with Alina Habba’s Stormy Attacks
Following Stormy Daniels’s first appearance on the witness stand in Donald Trump’s criminal election interference trial in New York, Trump has potentially violated his gag order once again via his official legal spokesperson, Alina Habba, after she relentlessly attacked Stormy Daniels on a right-wing media platform Tuesday evening.
The crux of the matter lies in whether Habba’s actions constitute a breach of the gag order imposed on Trump. The essence of the gag order is to prevent parties involved in the case from making public statements that could influence the proceedings or prejudice the jury. While the gag order specifically covers Donald Trump and does not explicitly apply to Donald Trump’s attorneys, Habba was acting as Donald Trump’s paid spokesperson during her Tuesday night interview on Fox News. Habba is not an attorney on the actual defense team.
The gag order issued by Justice Merchan bars Donald Trump from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding.” It can be reasonably construed that Donald Trump directed Habba to attack the witness, Stormy Daniels, due to the fact that she was acting as an official mouthpiece for Donald Trump. Habba’s title was even listed on the Hannity chyron, which read, “FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S LEGAL SPOKESWOMAN.”
During her Hannity appearance, Habba attacked Daniels as “not credible” and accused Daniels of perjuring herself on the stand with “salacious information that was frankly false.” Such statements from an official spokesperson should not be viewed by the Court as any different from an official press release or a social media post. If anything, what Habba is doing may even be worse.
Think about it: Donald Trump is technically paying to have his official spokesperson attempt to intimidate witnesses on primetime television. This seems to be precisely why there is language in the gag order preventing Trump from “directing others” to make public statements about a witness. When you pay a spokesperson, you are “directing them” to make statements on your behalf.
Per a video posted to Instagram, Alina Habba likely made these comments in a remote studio alongside Donald Trump's deputy communications chief, Margo Martin. One post of the two of them in this studio from Monday night featured the caption: "@TEAMTRUMP WORKING HARD DUSK TIL DAWN."
During a Fox appearance on April 30, Habba herself even acknowledged that the gag order would apply to her statements made on behalf of defendant Trump, throwing away any attempt to claim plausible deniability. "But then you have a judge who we've asked to recuse themselves for reasons that I can't speak to because of the gag order, as you know.
During that same appearance, Habba also said: "...because the gag order, I would have you remind the American people, is not just for the president. It was for the president and anyone in his control – campaign, anyone else. How are you supposed to operate?"
The broader implications of this episode extend beyond the confines of the courtroom. At stake is the integrity of the legal process and the principle of impartiality. The notion that a defendant could circumvent the restrictions of a gag order by outsourcing public attacks to a paid spokesperson would set a concerning precedent. It raises questions about the efficacy of gag orders in the age of media saturation and the ever-expanding influence of public figures and their representatives.
Moreover, Habba’s alleged transgression highlights the intricate dynamics between legal strategy, media manipulation, and public perception. In an era characterized by relentless media scrutiny and the weaponization of information, the lines between legal advocacy and public relations blur, often with contentious consequences.
Justice Merchan, after finding Donald Trump in contempt of court for the 10th time on Monday, warned defendant Trump that the “Court will have to consider a jail sanction” if Trump continued to violate the order, deeming fines to be ineffective at preventing Trump’s bad behavior. Time will tell if the Manhattan DA will raise this potential violation with the Court, and how the Court will act if they choose to do so.
