Who is Alina Habba? Trump's personal attorney joins White House team after losing in court

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

51% : "She has been unwavering in her loyalty and unmatched in her resolve -- standing with me through numerous 'trials,' battles and countless days in Court," Trump wrote in a statement announcing her appointment December 8.
40% : Trump first hired Habba's small New Jersey-based firm Habba Madaio & Associate in 2021 to sue his niece Mary Trump and The New York Times for $100 million for publishing information about his tax returns.
39% : "I'm disappointed in my legal talent, I'll be honest with you," Trump said in the aftermath of that case.
37% : Habba notably did not represent Trump during his criminal trial in Manhattan, instead acting as a spokesperson and adviser throughout the campaign, and appearing inside and outside the courtroom with other Trump allies to support him.
35% : On May 30, a jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money scheme to pay off adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
34% : A pretrial judgment from Manhattan Superior Court Justice Arthur Engoron determined that Trump and his Trump Organization co-defendants of making dozens of false and misleading valuations of his assets to banks and investors, who in turn gave them more favorable financing deals to enrich themselves and the family business.
32% : That case was ultimately dismissed, and Trump was ordered to pay $400,000 in legal fees.
32% : "The courts are not intended for performative litigation for purposes of fund-raising and political statements," District Judge Donald Middlebroks wrote.Trump also retained Habba's office to block a civil investigation from the office of New York Attorney General into years-long allegations of fraud in his family's real-estate empire.
29% : But Habba emerged as a powerful spokesperson on the president-elect's behalf, infusing her courthouse rhetoric with the same disdain for what she and Trump view as a politically motivated judicial system in her media appearances and on the campaign trail.
27% : Trump, who was under a gag order through the duration of the trial, violated the terms at least three times.
24% : One month later, Trump was ordered to pay more than $350 million for more than a decade of business fraud.
24% : Habba herself was repeatedly reprimanded for his behavior and mistakes in court, and was the subject of a blistering federal court judgment last year that ordered nearly $1 million in sanctions against her and Trump, who was labeled a "mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process.
19% : In that case, Habba elicited testimony from Trump's former attorney-turned-witness Michael Cohen, who said that Trump "speaks like a mob boss" and implicitly instructed his associates to fraudulently inflate his net worth and assets in financial documents.
18% : Trump attorney D. John Sauer, who represented Trump throughout his attempt to claim "immunity" from criminal prosecution for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, was nominated to serve as the United State solicitor general.
15% : In February, Trump lost that blockbuster civil trial, and Engoron ordered Trump to pay more than $350 million, plus interest, for so-called "ill-gotten gains" from his decade-long fraud scheme.
14% : In the case of E Jean Carroll, a federal judge scolded Habba for failing "evidence 101" after trying to read out evidence that had not been introduced and repeatedly cut her off from lines of questioning that sought to undermine Carroll's character, landing blows against Trump's accuser that were meant for Trump more than the jury.
13% : Habba also represented Trump in a defamation case brought by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, who accused the former president of sexual assault.

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