9-23-2021
Trump's new 'low-profile' attorney served
as general counsel for a parking-garage company.
Former president Donald Trump's newest attorney,
Alina Habba, previously served as general counsel
for a parking-garage company.
Habba, who is part of a
four-person firm with offices near
Trump's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, this week
filed a $100 million lawsuit on the former president's behalf, against the New York Times and his niece, Mary Trump.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Habba,
"a low-profile attorney," does not list media law among her specialties.
In addition to Bedminster, her Habba Madaio and Associates firm has offices in the same Manhattan building that houses Centerpark, the parking garage company where she once served as general counsel.
"In recent months, court records show, Habba has represented
a man suing a New Jersey nursing home for allegedly lax care during the coronavirus pandemic,
and a student who sued the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut for not refunding tuition when classes went online-only," the Post reported.
"Last month, she sued two Portuguese news outlets for allegedly libeling a New Jersey man by tying him to a far-right Portuguese political party."
Habba says she has never worked for Trump before, and her ties to the former president remain unclear, but she doesn't appear to have contributed money to his campaigns.
However, she did represent a Trump-loving former "Real Housewives of New Jersey" contestant in a dispute with Facebook that was featured on right-wing outlet Newsmax.
The Post notes that Habba's lawsuit against the NYT and Mary Trump "reads, at times, like a missive from Trump himself."
"It has his vitriol against the news media, accusing the reporters and Mary Trump of 'maliciously conspiring against' Trump to further 'political vendettas.'
It indulges his tendency for self-praise describing Trump's
'public service to our great country.'
And it had his love for huge numbers, in its estimation
that the Times's story and Mary Trump's book had caused
harm to Trump totaling 'no less
than One Hundred Million Dollars.' The suit does
not explain how Trump came up with that number."
Habba is also defending Trump in a defamation
suit brought by a former "Apprentice" contestant.
In that case, she replaced one of Trump's best
known attorneys, Marc Kasowitz.
Kasowitz is one of three more high-profile attorneys who've withdrawn from cases representing Trump and his family
in recent weeks with none offering
an explanation.
"That appears to be an unusual amount of turnover
in Trump's legal team," the Post reports. "But the former president still has a lot of lawyers and a lot of legal headaches."
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