- I'm actually at a loss for words.
(dramatic music)
If these allegations are true, Trump's worst lawyer,
Alina Habba, engaged in some of the most unethical behavior
I've ever seen by a lawyer.
It makes Michael Avenatti look like a saint.
If a recent civil lawsuit is accurate,
Alina Habba convinced a Bedminster waitress,
who was suing the Trump golf course for sexual harassment,
to leave her lawyer then sign one
of the worst settlement agreements I've ever seen,
which was drafted by Alina Habba,
who claimed to be a neutral third party.
If she wasn't already working for Trump as a lawyer,
she appears to have used this unethical freebie
as an audition to become Trump's top in quotes lawyer.
This is insane.
Now, you might remember Alina Habba
as the 39-year-old attorney
leading Donald Trump's New York civil fraud case
and the new powerhouse contender shoving Rudy out
of the way for the bad Trump lawyer crown.
She received an F tier ranking from us.
In 2021, surprising many people,
Habba replaced Trump's longtime lawyer, Mark Kasowitz
on the E. Jean Carroll defamation case,
as well as a similar suit brought
by a former apprentice contestant named Summer Zervos.
Though surprising no one,
the results of that replacement were easy to guess.
Now, Kasowitz the founder of the 350 lawyer firm
Kasowitz, Benson, and Torres is a high powered lawyer
with clients like former Fox host, Bill O'Reilly
and the cigarette company Liggett.
And as a plaintiff's attorney, he secured $300 million
for Alabama residents poisoned by seepage
from the Monsanto plant.
In contrast, Alina Habba heads up a four lawyer shop
in suburban New Jersey specializing in family law
and small scale business disputes.
Though she previously served as the general counsel
to a parking garage company that was owned by her husband.
So the question is, why would Trump choose an attorney
like Habba to represent him?
If this complaint is true,
it looks like it was because she screwed
over this waitress for his benefit.
So what's going on with this new lawsuit?
Well, a complaint was filed last week in the Superior Court
of New Jersey describing Habba's role
in a three-year employment dispute
at the Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster.
Now, as always, this is a civil complaint.
So this is a one-sided document that tells the story
of the plaintiff as the plaintiff wants it to be told.
That being said, this complaint contains a lot
of verbatim quotes, which makes it appear
like they have the receipts in this particular case.
But at the same time,
Habba has not responded to this complaint yet.
We'll see what happens there.
Now, it started in May of 2021
when a 21-year-old woman named Alice Bianco got a job
as a server at the New Jersey Club
where the former president spends much
of the spring and summer.
Bianco claims that, quote, "Soon after she began work,
Pavel Melichar, the food and beverage manager,
began to sexually harass her."
Melichar forced Bianco to wear short skirts
and came up with excuses to summon her to his office
to forcibly kiss her and promise to protect her,
asking what she was going to do for him.
Bianco says that Melichar had control
over plaintiff's workplace and made it clear to her
that he could make her life easy or hard.
Soon he was coercing Bianco to, quote, "Engage in sex
as a quid pro quo for continued employment and protection."
Allegedly claiming that, quote, "He could do what he wanted
because he runs the place."
As proof, he showed Bianco, quote, "videos of Donald Trump
praising him, indicating his closeness to Donald Trump
so that she knew he was powerful."
In July, Bianco says that she refused to put up
with Melichar's advances anymore, telling him, quote,
"I don't want you, I never wanted you, get away from me."
After this, she says Melichar retaliated by, quote,
"giving her unfair job assignments
and allowing his henchman to abuse her and steal her tips."
Now if true, this would be a textbook example
of sexual harassment under federal
and state anti-discrimination laws.
The New Jersey Attorney General's Division
of Civil Rights defines quid pro quo harassment as, quote,
"when a benefit like a promotion is conditioned
on sexual favors or when an adverse action
like being fired is threatened
if you refuse a sexual advance."
It also notes the quote, "The New Jersey Law Against
Discrimination prohibits an employer from retaliating
against you for objecting to sexual harassment,
filing a sexual harassment complaint, or for exercising
or attempting to exercise any rights under the law."
Now, allegedly that same month, another female coworker
who claimed to have been harassed
by Melichar delivered a letter to, quote, "a member
of Donald Trump's personal staff",
describing a quote, "toxic and sexist work environment
as a result of poor managing from a higher management."
The letter alleged multiple occurrences of sexual harassment
and specifically stated that Melichar had, quote,
"forced a female server to perform sexual actions
with him and covered it up by stating
that he was protecting her while paying her
and giving her gifts to remain silent."
The letter writer said she had told the club's general
manager, Dave Schutzenhofer about Melichar's behavior,
but, quote, "little to no action has been taken."
Now, after receiving this letter,
the club's human resources officer allegedly finally
contacted Bianco who hired an experienced employment lawyer.
But on July 28th, as Bianco was working the breakfast shift,
she was approached by club member Alina Habba who said
that, quote, "She had heard about what was going on
and wanted to help her."
Habba, quote, "acted as if Bianco was her friend
and that she was very concerned about her."
Bianco was familiar with Habba and her husband,
regular patrons of the club,
who often socialized with the former president.
Now, Bianco told Habba that she already had a lawyer,
and this is where things really start to go sideways.
Because the first rule of attorney ethics
is that you do not communicate directly with a party
who has legal representation.
You talk to their lawyer.
This is not one of those things
where there's a lot of wiggle room.
This is a hard and fast rule,
but Habba continued to communicate with Bianco a lot.
Now, according to the complaint, she started
by telling the younger woman, "You know you can fire
your current lawyer, right?"
She followed it up with a text a few hours later
saying, "Hi, love, it's Alina. Wanted to check on you."
She included a link to a negative review of Bianco's lawyer
saying, "Is this the guy? Be careful."
On August 1st, Bianco sent Habba a long apologetic message
saying that she didn't feel comfortable firing her lawyer
but inviting Habba to consult.
Since Trump has multiple lawyers, it isn't a bad idea for me
to have multiple attorneys to figure out how best
to handle this situation.
But Habba did not want to consult.
So four days later,
Bianco climbed into Habbas matte black G Wagon
in the parking lot of the Trump Club.
Habba allegedly, quote, "knew all about Bianco's claims
and alluded to facts that could be used
to publicly embarrass her" saying, quote, "with your past,
maybe you can get a paltry sum."
Habba went on to tell Bianco, "I can help you,
I can protect you" and warned her that, quote,
"attorneys want to take control from you."
Foreshadowing, Bianco probably should have taken
that last sentence at face value.
Now according to the complaint, Habba advised Bianco
to, quote, "ignore her lawyer's, text, emails, and calls"
and it worked.
The next day, Bianco texted to say, quote, "I did exactly
what you said, nothing, LMFAO.
And the lawyer texted me this morning and fired me??
LMFAOO. I don't get it, but whatever."
After that, things move fast.
As Bianco texted her new friend, quote, "I love you so much"
and "best friend, I love you", Habba prepared the paperwork.
On August 11th, Bianco arrived at Habba's office
to sign a non-disclosure agreement she hadn't seen,
and which she'd been discouraged from allowing
an outside lawyer to review.
The terms were not in her favor.
The agreement contained a confidentiality clause
which barred her from talking
about the harassment she'd suffered
or even the existence of the agreement
to anyone but her accountant.
But the thing is, under New Jersey law,
a provision in any employment contract
or settlement agreement which conceals the details relating
to a claim of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment
is against public policy and unenforceable
against a current or former employee.
In plain English, allowing employers to silence employees
about sexual harassment and workplace discrimination is bad
for society because it allows employers to simply pay money
and continue doing horrible, illegal things.
And so in 2019, New Jersey made
these confidentiality provisions unenforceable by employers.
But at the same time, the law mandates
that any confidentiality agreement to settle a claim
of workplace discrimination must include a, quote,
"bold, prominently placed notice"
telling the employee that if she violates
the non enforceable confidentiality clause,
then the employer will have the right to do the same.
Now at this point in the video,
you will probably not be shocked
to learn that this clause was not
in the settlement agreement that Habba prepared.
But what was there
was a liquidated damages provision requiring Bianco
to return the entire settlement amount
if she violated the confidentiality provision,
plus pay a fine of $1,000 per day of the violation
and fork over the club's attorney's fees
if they had to sue her to enforce it.
Of course, the club couldn't even enforce
the confidentiality provision under New Jersey law,
but that's not what Habba said to Bianco.
And the complaint continues stating
that Habba told Bianco, quote, "as long as you don't talk
to anybody about this, you'll be fine."
And warned her that she, quote, "better not try
to sell her story to the media
because she would owe Trump the settlement proceeds
and the media would only pay about $3,000."
Now, Alina Habba's probably going to need a good lawyer
for these claims, but if you want a great lawyer,
my firm, the Eagle Team, can help.
If you've suffered from sexual harassment,
been in a car crash, or suffered from cancer,
we could represent you or help find you
the right attorney who can.
It's so important to talk to a lawyer right away
to get the best representation to figure out
what your options are.
So just click on the link in the description
for a free consultation with my team right away.
Because you don't just need a legal team,
you need the Eagle Team.
The link is down below.
So by now you're probably wondering what Bianco got
for firing her original lawyer
and going with what Alina Habba was advising her to do.
Well, in exchange for her silence about the sexual abuse,
Bianco was given what is only described in the document
as a, quote, "paltry sum".
A legal columnist, Liz Dye, points out
at lawandchaospod.com that one of Habbas's texts suggests
that the amount was $15,000,
and that would indeed be a paltry sum.
Basically, it's missing at least one, if not two zeros on it
for a 21-year-old who was basically raped by her manager
to avoid being fired.
And to add insult to injury, Bianco says
that Habba deceived her about who would pay the taxes
on the settlement funds.
She says that Habba told her
that the money would be tax free
and that the club would pay for the therapy
if she was getting to deal with the trauma from her abuse.
In fact, the agreement explicitly states
that Bianco was responsible for paying her own taxes,
but since Habba never provided Bianco a copy
of the agreement, that came as a surprise
when the young woman went to file her taxes
and saw that she was on the hook the next year.
But by then, Habba was formally representing Trump
in multiple civil cases
and had all but ghosted her young friend.
After the draconian settlement agreement was signed,
when Bianco texted to ask about the tax issue,
Habba repeatedly fobbed her off on the club saying, quote,
"I really can't give you legal advice"
or as Bianco put it in her complaint quote,
"What Ms. Habba really meant by saying
I can't technically give you legal advice
was that she was now done with plaintiff.
Habba didn't need to text heart emojis anymore.
She had accomplished her goal of protecting Donald Trump
and of silencing Ms. Bianco."
And yeah, that raises a very interesting
and legally important question.
Who was Habba representing in this deal?
In her complaint, Bianco alleges that, quote,
"Habba held herself up as a neutral party"
mediating between two good friends,
but that, quote, "she was secretly working
to advance the interests of the club and Donald Trump."
Note that this is not an allegation
that Habba was actually formally working for Trump,
just that she was interested in protecting him
and not simply looking out
for the younger woman in a tough spot.
And it's very clear that Habba was trying
to protect her own interests in the settlement contract.
Section entitled, quote, "Waiver of Right
to Independent Counsel" says that, quote,
"neither party was represented by counsel
and that this agreement was prepared by a neutral attorney"
who, quote, "is acting for the sole purpose
of drafting the agreement of the parties
and that the neutral attorney is released
from any and all responsibility or liability
in connection with the drafting of the agreement."
The document also claims that both parties were, quote,
"advised to obtain independent legal counsel
and that they had both read and understood the contents
and legal effect of the agreement",
both of which are boilerplate provisions in every contract.
But Bianco claims that she never had the opportunity
to review the terms of the agreement before signing it
and that Habba encouraged her to fire her lawyer
and not seek legal advice saying, quote,
"I'm trying to help you.
You're going to make it more difficult."
And as a lawyer, I can tell you
that this looks really terrible.
Telling someone not to have an attorney read
over a document when you are an attorney purporting
to be a neutral third party, ugh, I mean,
some of these things just don't make sense.
And this case was filed in the Superior Court
of the New Jersey Chancery Division for Middlesex County.
Chancery courts are courts of equity not law.
In New Jersey, this means that you go there
when you want a judge to order someone to do something,
not when you're seeking money damages
or a regular jury trial.
And right now, Bianco wants four things from the court.
With respect to the agreement,
she wants the court to declare the settlement agreement void
because it was induced by fraud.
And she's asking the court
to enjoin the Bedminster Club from enforcing it.
So in the short term, she wants to be able
to speak publicly about what happened
and know that she won't get sued for it.
In reality, New Jersey law would bar any lawsuit
to enforce the confidentiality provisions.
But Bianco's complaint makes liberal use of the words Trump
and fraud while describing the settlement
as basically insulting.
And if her allegations and the $15,000 number are correct,
then she's probably right.
Before she can do anything about that though,
Bianco needs the Chancery Court
to declare the entire contract void,
at which point she'll be free to, uh, well,
that's an interesting question.
Bianco's attorney is Nancy Erika Smith,
an employment litigation super lawyer.
In 2016, Smith won a $20 million settlement
in public apology for her client, Gretchen Carlson,
who sued Fox News and Roger Ailes for sexual harassment.
Smith has not said what Bianco plans
to do if and when the Chancery Court voids
the settlement agreement.
But if the agreement drafted by Habba goes away,
then Bianco would presumably be free to file the lawsuit
Habba successfully headed off three years ago.
And this time Bianco won't be settling
for, you know, a paltry $15,000.
Though she's asked the Chancery court
to let her keep the money since she was the party
who was defrauded in this transaction.
Bianco was also requesting that the court refer Habba
and her law firm Habba, Madaio & Associates
to New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.
In a supporting motion, Bianco says
that, quote, "Habba violated numerous ethics rules
in encouraging her to sign an agreement favorable to Trump,
which contains illegal provisions silencing her."
These violations include communicating
with a person she knew was represented by counsel,
while actually representing the interests
of an adverse party, telling Bianco she was neutral
when, in reality, Habba and her firm
represented the interests of the club
and Donald Trump, encouraging Bianco to fire
her experienced employment lawyer, telling Bianco
that retaining another lawyer could jeopardize a settlement
and talking Bianco into agreeing to illegal penalties
for the illegal NDA.
Now, asking a judge to refer an attorney
for discipline is not a normal remedy that you sue for.
But judges in New Jersey do appear to have the power
to refer attorneys for discipline,
and those referrals are treated with more deference
than complaints made by members of the public.
And that goes doubly if the court referral comes backed
by a judicial finding that the attorney violated
the rules or the law.
So depending on what the court decides here,
Habba could be in for a rough ride.
Bianco's complaint spends two full pages listing the Rules
of Professional Conduct that Habba may have violated.
And broadly speaking, she's alleged to have communicated
with a represented party, violated conflict
of interest laws, and made false statements to induce Bianco
to sign an adverse settlement agreement.
Those first two items on that list
are not necessarily likely to interfere with her ability
to practice law, but if the court finds
that Habba made false statements,
the penalty could be a lot more severe.
New Jersey's attorney discipline system
involves six levels of punishment.
The first three are admonition, reprimand, and censure.
Now, as far as I'm aware,
Habba has no prior disciplinary record except
for being sanctioned in court a whole bunch of times.
And so if she's found to have committed one
of the lesser ethical improprieties,
she'd probably get off with a nasty letter.
But if the court and the Office of Attorney Ethics find
that Habba made false statements
or committed outright fraud, she could wind up
with a more severe sanction such as a suspension
from the practice of law for at least a little while.
And there's still the question
of whether Habba was actually representing Trump
or just trying to get in his good graces
by making a problem go away.
And the answer to that is we don't know at this point.
But since Habba has put in writing
and gotten her law partner, Mike Madaio,
to notarize a document saying
that she was definitely not acting as a lawyer here,
she's probably not going to be able
to claim attorney-client privilege
for any conversation she had with regard
to the settlement agreement,
which is going to make for some very,
very interesting litigation.
Now, all this talk of a lawyer who allegedly took advantage
of a 21-year-old server who didn't know any better
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