Trump Lawyer Backs Off Claim That Judge Overseeing E. Jean Carroll Defamation Trial Had Conflict of Interest

Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba argued in a letter on Tuesday that she did not make any false accusations when she voiced her concerns about a potential conflict of interest between E. Jean Carroll's lead attorney, Roberta Kaplan, and the judge who oversaw Trump's defamation battle, Lewis Kaplan, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Habba questioned if a conflict of interest existed between the two, who have no relation despite sharing the same last name, on Monday, citing a New York Post story with one anonymous tipster claiming the future judge had previously served as the lawyer's mentor when they both worked at the same Paul, Weiss law firm years ago.

Roberta not only threatened to pursue sanctions in a three-page letter fired off to the judge Tuesday, but also denied any such "mentor-mentee relationship" relationship, calling the speculation "utterly baseless."

The attorney noted the length of their overlap at the firm was short, specifically "less than two years," and "more than thirty years ago."

"I do remember the Paul, Weiss partners with whom I worked and none of them was Your Honor," Roberta continued. "More specifically, I have no recollection from that time period of ever interacting with Your Honor on a case, participating with Your Honor in a client or case-related meeting, or attending a court proceeding with Your Honor. In fact, I remember no direct interaction from that time period with Your Honor at all."

Roberta said Habba claimed to learn "for the first time" about their alleged ties from a story published by the outlet over the weekend, adding that it's been a matter of "public record" that she and the judge both previously worked at the same firm.

Roberta questioned the source's credibility and said "That partner (if he even exists) clearly has a very flawed memory" about such events.

The lawyer went on to state that it's been Trump and Habba's imperative to push a "false narrative of judicial bias so that they could characterize any jury verdict against him as the product of a corrupt system."

The legal back-and-forth came after Trump, last week, was ordered to pay a massive $83.3 million in damages for defaming Carroll, the advice columnist whom a prior jury found that Trump sexually assaulted inside a department store fitting room in the 1990s.

Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and spoken out against Carroll, which has cost him substantially more.

Habba, meanwhile, has been pushing for a retrial.

Habba stood by her prior letter in a response issued today despite critics calling her out for backtracking on her recent allegations. "The purpose of the letter was simply to inquire as to whether there is any merit to a recently published New York Post story which reported on the alleged existence of such a relationship," she wrote.

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"I played no part in uncovering this information; have never communicated with the unnamed Paul, Weiss partner; and have no personal knowledge as to whether the information contained in the article is true or false."