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Trump Lawyer Sued For Calling New York’s AG Letitia James A “Black Bitch”

Alina Habba is accused of thinking she has a pass because she identifies as Arab-American.

Even Donald Trumpโ€™s lawyers canโ€™t avoid being dragged into court.

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A lawsuit filed this week in New Jersey alleges that one the attorneys defending the former president against a civil investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia James once called James a โ€œBlack bitchโ€ after losing a ruling in the case, and routinely participated in other racist and inappropriate behavior in the workplace.

The suit was filed by Naโ€™Sayia Drayton, who is identified in court documents as a legal assistant and the only African-American woman who worked at the law firm of Habba Madaio & Associates. Drayton claims that in April of this year, the firmโ€™s managing partner, Alina Habbaโ€”who is described in the suit as of Caucasian-American and โ€œArabic descentโ€โ€”burst out of a meeting with her partner Michael Madaio, who is white, yelling, โ€œI hate that Black bitch,โ€ referring to James. Habba and Madaio had just been handed another L on Trumpโ€™s behalf by a judge in the New York investigation, the lawsuit says.

Itโ€™s unclear exactly which L Habba and Madaio were holding at the time, given Trumpโ€™s legal team has tried several unsuccessful tactics to derail Jamesโ€™ investigation since it began back in 2019. In April of this year, we reported that Jamesโ€™ office asked a judge in New York to hold Trump in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents. Later that month, a judge agreed, fining Trump $10,000 a day until he complied. Habba argued against both the subpoena itself and the fine.

The alleged racism doesnโ€™t end there: Drayton also claims that Habba, Madaio and other white employees at the firm made a habit of blaring hip-hop and singing along to the lyricsโ€”which was cool by herโ€”including repeated use of the n-word in all its forms, hard-er includedโ€”which was definitely not cool by her. Oh yeah, there was a โ€œyou people love fried chickenโ€ quip thrown in for good measureโ€”again, allegedly.

When confronted about the behavior, Draytonโ€™s suit claims that Habba dismissed the idea that she was racist because of her own background.

Specifically, during the conversation, defendant Alina Habba repeatedly stated the following:

a) It was โ€œunacceptable to herโ€ that Plaintiff Naโ€™Syia Drayton believed that her (Habbaโ€™s) workplace behavior was inappropriate, offensive and racially insensitive;

b) That she could not possibly be racist because โ€œI am a fucking minority myself;โ€

c) That it was impossible for her to be racist because โ€œIโ€™m not whiteโ€ and because โ€œI love all peopleโ€;

d) That she loved Plaintiff Naโ€™Syia Drayton;

e) โ€œIโ€™m not white. I used to be bullied because I am Arab;โ€

f) That her comments about Letitia James, Esq. were not meant for you [Drayton];

Bold and italics compliments of Draytonโ€™s legal team. That lettered list continues through โ€œkโ€.

The Root reached out to Habba Madaio & Associates for comment but hasnโ€™t gotten a response yet.

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