Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba has been slammed over apparent “appalling” comments when she suggested Supreme Court justices would “step up” to keep the former president on the ballots in Colorado and Maine.
Habba singled out Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was nominated by Trump and took his seat in October 2018, as someone who would defeat attempts to keep the former president off the ballots due to his call to action in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol.
Republican nomination frontrunner Trump was removed from the ballots in Maine and Colorado under the 14th Amendment that prohibits people “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.
“I think it should be a slam dunk in the Supreme Court. I have faith in them,” Habba, said in an interview on Fox News’ The Sean Hannity Show, referring to an appeal by the National Republican Senatorial Committee arguing Trump should remain on the Colorado ballot.
“You know, people like Kavanaugh who the president fought for, who the president went through hell to get into place. He’ll step up,” Habba said.
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Kavanaugh was one of three justices nominated by Trump who together shifted the Supreme Court to a right-wing majority that overturned the federal right to abortion, a significant victory for pro-life conservatives.
The Supreme Court said on Friday it would hear whether Trump can be kept on ballots, with a ruling in February set to be applied nationwide.
But Habba’s comments were branded “appalling” by former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Joyce Vance, during a Saturday interview on MSNBC.
“That was a really appalling statement for any lawyer to make, and particularly a lawyer involved in a contest like this,” Vance said.
“All federal judges are appointed by a president from one party or another and we expect all of them to leave that political origin story at the door when they take the bench.
“They decide the cases based on the law and the facts and not on the president who got them there.”
“So, I think that this is, in many ways, impeaning [sic] the character of some of these Supreme Court justices. I hope that they are deeply offended by her comments. They should be,” she added.
“And the real problem here is that Trump and those around him continue to cast into disrepute all of our important democratic institutions.
“Trump has attacked the FBI, he’s attacked his successor [President] Joe Biden, he’s attacked members of Congress, he’s attacked the courts. And this, the Supreme Court, where we leave our most important disputes to be decided.
“To try to take down their integrity and they are already troubled, and I think we have to be frank here, has ethical issues of its own making. But this really is the last straw and it shouldn’t be tolerated,” Vance said.
Newsweek has contacted Habba for comment via email.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.