OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A lawyer and spokeswoman for former President Donald Trump is decrying the media reporting surrounding her client’s various legal cases.
Following his latest indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, attorney Alina Habba suggested to Newsmax TV that “fake news” is tainting the public’s perception of Trump’s cases and that the problem is not new to him.
“Russia hoax, impeachment hoax, I mean keep going, keep going, keep going,” Habba said. “What I think is the most frightening is not just the fake news media but that the fake news media, I think, is starting to permeate our court systems and our justice systems, and that’s what scares me.”
“If you’re on the right, you tend to watch right-wing shows that confirm your beliefs; if you’re on the left, you tend to watch things like MSDNC and CNN, and that confirms your beliefs on the opposite side,” she added.
“So the real question is, how do we start to open our eyes to the truth? And I think if we don’t have people out there giving the truth, and I know I, for one, and I know you both do this, we try and be intelligent about what we say and not just say what people want to hear,” Habba continued.
“I for sure don’t do that, but if people don’t start doing that and stop being afraid of being targeted for being honest Americans, we’re going to have a real problem,” she said.
“I think the [former] president [Trump] has a good point. You know we have a real tragedy happening in the television sector because people don’t trust what they’re watching. So, we can fix it, and I take it seriously. I know you guys do, but unfortunately, that’s not the way the American people view it all the time,” she added.
“It’s a serious matter, and if [Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis] is gonna bring charges against a former president, she better be able to put her big girl pants on and deal with the repercussions and the fight that we’ll give in court.”
WATCH:
Earlier this week, lawyers for the former president filed several motions in Georgia seeking to dismiss charges filed against him there.
In two legal motions, Trump — who is facing 13 counts, including an alleged violation of the state’s racketeering laws — used an argument made by legal representatives for attorney Kenneth Chesebro, NBC News reported.
Chesebro was the attorney behind the legal strategy used to create an alternative set of electors for the state, the outlet noted.
He “last week asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to dismiss the case against him, arguing that the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause barred states from prosecuting or otherwise regulating conduct ‘that was entirely within the ambit of federal authority,’” NBC News added.
Cornell Law School says the Supremacy Clause “establishes that the federal constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions.”
“In adopting the motion to dismiss, Trump’s lawyers said Chesebro’s constitutional argument applied to the racketeering and other conspiracy-related charges against Trump. It was one of two Trump filings Monday that pertained to Chesebro’s earlier motions,” NBC noted.
“Attorneys for Trump took a similar approach Monday in adopting an earlier motion filed by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani that would affect seven of the counts against Trump,” the outlet added.
Trump’s attempt to have the charges dismissed comes just a few days after his legal team advised the same court he may try to move his case to a federal court. His former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, attempted the same thing but has so far been unsuccessful.
Willis has said she wants to put all 19 co-defendants on trial next month. But Chesebro and another former Trump lawyer, Sidney Powell, are already scheduled to stand trial beginning Oct. 23 because they requested a speedy process.
