Former Trump attorney slams Habba after defamation verdict: ‘I would regret having her’  

A former attorney for former President Trump criticized his lawyer Alina Habba in a CNN interview Friday, after a jury ordered the former president to pay $83.3 million in damages to writer E. Jean Carroll.

“I would regret having her represent him,” Tim Parlatore told CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins. “I mean, I do think that in both of these trials, he was essentially undefended. And I think that it could have turned out differently.”

The former president railed against the jury’s decision on Truth Social following the order, and said he would appeal it. 

“Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump wrote. “Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon.”

“They have taken away all First Amendment Rights,” he added. “THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”

A jury found last year that Trump sexually abused Carroll in the 1990s. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled in September that Trump had defamed Carroll. The most recent trial determined the amount the former president owed the writer.

The case centered on a written statement given to reporters and South Lawn comments the former president made in 2019, when Carroll publicly accused Trump of sexual abuse.

When Collins asked Parlatore if the former president should “reconsider” having his current legal team or Habba represent him in an appeal, Parlatore said he should.

“Definitely, you shouldn’t have the same lawyer that did the case, do your appeal,” Parlatore said. “Yeah, that’s generally inadvisable because the attorney who tried the case is going to have a lot of personal biases on how they tried the case.”