One of former President Donald Trump's more prominent defense attorneys was just removed from a big case that they had been hired to work on.
Trump attorney Alina Habba will no longer represent the former president and his namesake Trump Organization in the civil fraud lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Washington Examiner reported.
However, Habba has not been entirely removed from Trump's defense team, as she has instead been essentially moved over to handle certain legal issues and the media as part of the Trump-affiliated Save America political action committee.
According to a Friday press release, former President Trump has appointed Habba to serve as the general counsel and legal spokesperson for his Save America PAC.
The release noted that the attorney's firm, Habba Madaio Law, will "continue to assist the President in certain legal matters," but that Habba herself would withdraw from a number of cases against the president, including the New York AG's lawsuit against the Trump Organization.
That change for Habba, which took immediate effect, was done in order to allow her to "devote her time to Save America and her duties as his media representative on legal matters."
Steven Cheung, the communications director for the Trump 2024 campaign, said of Habba, "Alina has worked diligently and tirelessly on many of the witch-hunt cases that have been unfairly brought against President Trump."
Habba said in a statement about the transition in her job status, "It is an honor to be asked by such a leader as President Trump to help Save America."
"Being able to devote more time to addressing publicly his many legal matters is the privilege of a lifetime," she added.
According to Newsweek, Habba had run a small law firm based out of Bedminster, New Jersey, that was located just a few miles away from former President Trump's golf course, when he first hired her in September 2021.
One of her first assignments was to help defend Trump and his business empire from the New York AG's $250 million civil fraud lawsuit, which alleges that the Trump Organization routinely manipulates the values of its many properties to increase benefits and reduce liabilities.
Habba also, for a time, took the lead role in defending Trump from the defamation lawsuit and rape allegations put forward by columnist E. Jean Carroll, though she was replaced in that case by fellow Trump attorney Joe Tacopina shortly before it went to trial earlier this year.
In addition, she has also defended the former president in other defamation and sexual assault lawsuits and has been part of Trump's legal defense team in the federal documents case.
Throughout Habba's time as a Trump attorney, she has made numerous appearances on TV and ably defended her client in often hostile media interviews, which likely explains why she was appointed to a position where she will likely do much more of that as opposed to filing briefs and making court appearances.
