Alina Habba Was Once Slammed for Saying Crimes Like ‘Espionage’ Were ‘Mundane'

Alina Habba, an attorney representing Donald Trump, once ignited controversy when she dismissed the gravity of the FBI’s criminal investigation into the former President’s alleged mishandling of classified documents, referring to crimes like espionage and obstruction as ‘mundane.’ This statement came in response to a Department of Justice (DOJ) filing detailing Trump’s alleged efforts to conceal and remove classified materials from his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House.

In an interview with right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, Habba seemingly tried to downplay the importance of the investigation by characterizing the charges as mundane statues. She argued, “They say themselves in these papers that they filed... that this is under the Presidential Records Act. So what they did was try and criminalize Donald Trump as they always do. They found these three mundane statutes: espionage and the two others ― obstruction. And they are trying to claim there is some sort of criminal activity.”

As per HuffPost, questions arose regarding Habba’s integrity after it was revealed that she had allegedly conducted a search of Mar-a-Lago just days before the DOJ issued a subpoena to recover classified documents from the same location. This raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and whether she had tampered with or mishandled the records in question.

Moreover, in the interview, Habba further added, “You can take a picture of top secret documents … and show the world a label, but if they’re declassified as he has a right to do, he has the right to have them. And he was working together with [the National Archives and Records Administration], as we know, and that back and forth could have been at a table as they’ve been doing months prior.”

As per The Independent, critics pointed out that Habba’s legal career prior to representing Trump was relatively modest, with her most notable cases including a parking garage company and a cast member from The Real Housewives of New Jersey. The DOJ’s filing provided damning proof of Trump’s alleged attempts to obstruct the investigation, including the discovery of classified documents hidden in his desk and storage boxes marked ‘top secret.’ Prosecutors argued that Trump lacked standing to seek judicial relief for the seized documents, as they did not belong to him.

Despite Habba's attempts to defend Trump's actions, legal experts dismissed her arguments as baseless. They emphasized that Trump's claims of declassifying the documents were unsubstantiated and that he had violated established protocols for handling classified information. Moreover, the DOJ's filing raised troubling questions about Trump's transparency and cooperation with the investigation, suggesting a deliberate attempt to obstruct justice. The allegations against him have raised serious concerns about his respect for the rule of law and his willingness to adhere to ethical standards.