A lawyer for former President Donald Trump repeatedly interrupted the judge at a
contentious hearing on Thursday and grew so heated at times that the law clerk had to remind her several times not to speak over the judge.
The focus of the hearing were a set of
subpoenas that New York attorney general Letitia James' office sent to Trump
and his two eldest children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka. They came as part of a wide-ranging investigation into whether the Trump Organization broke banking, tax, and insurance laws. Lawyers for the Trump family asked the judge to quash the subpoenas, arguing among other things that the investigation was politically motivated and that James was improperly conducting a civil and criminal probe.
At one point, Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, argued that James' investigation is "invalid" and tainted by political bias because the attorney general publicly criticized Trump.
"Let me just, let's say this is obvious, but I'm not the attorney disciplinary committee," New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron said when Habba said the investigation should be shut down. "So some of these ethical questions, they're not, they're not in front of me. And I tend to say they're not part of the case, but I haven't totally —"
Habba cut in, saying, "Your honor, how could you say that? They are very much a part of this case. You can't speak to someone based on your hatred for them. You can't —"
Then the law clerk, Allison Greenfield, interrupted to chastise Habba.
"When the judge speaks, you need to stop speaking," she said.
"I'm sorry," Habba replied. "I thought he was done. My apology."
At another point in the hearing, Habba insisted that Trump did not violate any laws and pointed to the slew of legal and congressional investigations from the past several years into his business and personal life.
While the judge was speaking, Habba again interrupted him to note that "no charges have been brought in all these years."
The interruption prompted another reminder from Greenfield.
"When the judge speaks, you have to stop speaking," she told Habba.