Trump lawyer Alina Habba ridiculed for claim that presidential immunity protects Americans
Alina Habba was ridiculed on social media after she claimed presidential immunity protects Americans.
Habba — who recently suggested Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh owed her client a favor and declared she can fake being smart — appeared on Fox News to share her thoughts on former President Donald Trump's presidential immunity arguments made in a D.C. hearing Tuesday.
“If you all of a sudden change an immunity that has been in place forever, that has been in place for very good reason, then how are presidents to protect the country?” Habba wanted to know.
“Absolute immunity, or what we call presidential immunity, is an immunity that exists to not only protect presidents, but protect Americans.”
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Presidential immunity is not set in legal stone, as one might expect an attorney defending a former U.S. president to know.
Supreme Court justices have grappled with the subject over several centuries and issued decisions such as United States v. Nixon, disagreeing with his claim that he was protected by the office he held. That decision has been highly praised by Kavanaugh, Trump’s second appointee, the New York Times noted Tuesday.
“The courts stood up for judicial independence in a moment of national crisis,” Kavanaugh said. “No one is above the law in our constitutional system.”
That didn’t stop Habba from asserting the success of Trump’s legal team in making the case for her client’s immunity.
“I think that our counsel did a great job of presenting what has already been established law,” Habba said. “That’s what I heard today.”
But that’s not what multiple legal experts who tuned into the hearing heard.
“It was a little bit surprising to hear Donald Trump’s lawyers go in there and concede that under certain circumstances, a former president can be prosecuted,” said CNN’s Elie Honig.
“Clearly, Trump's arguments in other forums are coming back to haunt him,” said former prosecutor Karen Agnifilo. “You cannot be inconsistent and disingenuous when you are speaking to the court.”
Nor is this what was heard by X users who watched Habba’s statement on Fox.
“Then why are they constantly accusing Joe Biden of committing crimes? Asked @AAnswer8.
“Yeah, but opposite of that," added @Politically_Int, "since he could then literally kill us on a whim."
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“From the 'Because I Said So' School of Law,” quipped @Kings_Lead_Hatt.
“So Presidents are now kings or queens,” replied @Truth_Comes_1st. “I think they had a revolution against the British regarding monarchies.”
“What an eedjit,” said @ValerieStone.