Trump’s Lawyer Tells Judge He is a ‘Protected Class’

Alina Habba, Donald Trump’s lawyer, argued in a court hearing that he should be considered a protected class for being a Republican, arguing that political parties should be part of protected groups. 

During a court hearing in New York, Habba told Supreme Court Judge Arthur F. Engoron that Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, is conducting an improper investigation into Trump just because she doesn’t like him.  

“The only reason she is doing this is because he is a former president, and on the other side of the fence,” Habba told the judge. 

Engoron asked Habba what protected class Trump was part of.  

“His political speech,” Habba says. “If he was not sitting as a Republican and was not a former president who might run again, this would not be happening. So she is discriminating against him for that.”

But the judge’s clerk stopped Habba to point out that the term protected class is usually reserved for race, religion, and gender discrimination.

“Donald Trump doesn’t fit that model. He’s not being discriminated against based on race, is he? Or religion, is he? He’s not a protected class. If Ms. James has a thing against him, OK, that’s not, in my understanding, unlawful discrimination. He’s just a bad guy she should go after as the chief law enforcement officer of the state.”

Protected classes are groups of people who are legally protected from being harmed or harassed by laws, practices, and policies that discriminate against them due to a shared characteristic like race, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation.

In the past, Trump has voiced opposition to actual marginalized people being considered protected classes, including LGBTQ people. 

In 2019 a spokesperson for the White House said that Trump opposed the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other civil rights legislation as protected categories, effectively banning job, housing, credit, and other forms of discrimination against LGBTQ people at the federal level. 

While in office, Trump also passed guidelines allowing health care professionals to refuse to provide medical care if they have personal or religious objections to it, which he framed as “conscience rights.”