Trump lawyer Habba calls reports he is falling asleep in court ‘unlikely’

Alina Habba, a lawyer and spokeswoman for former President Trump, said in an interview on Tuesday that it was “unlikely” that Trump fell asleep in court during the first two days of jury selection for his silent Manhattan case, despite reports indicating otherwise. .

“In fact, he’s probably extremely bored,” Habba told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum when asked about the reports. “I mean, it’s painful. They make him sit there during jury selection. The first day was procedural.”

“But no, you know, I heard that report. It’s unlikely,” continued Habba. “I know him. I’ve been through trial after trial with him. That never happens. So President Trump is incredibly focused.”

The first of Trump’s four criminal trials began on Monday with jury selection in a Manhattan courtroom.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, for paying adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 election. an alleged affair Trump had with her in 2006.

Trump is required to be present at the trial, including for jury selection, which can be a tedious process. On Monday, Trump sometimes closed his eyes, appearing to doze off. He also leaned back in his chair, motionless, with his arms crossed, for considerable periods, but opinions differed among members of the press as to whether the former president was actually sleeping.

On Tuesday, Trump at one point had his eyes closed for a few minutes.

In response, Democrats attacked the former president, who attacked his 2024 presidential opponent, President Biden, for his age and even referred to him by the nickname “Sleepy Joe.”

Kate Bedingfield, President Biden’s former communications director, wrote in response to the report: “Sleepy Don.”