This week Alina Habba went on The View to tell those godless liberals what’s up. She was asked about the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. (“Still rattled.”) She was asked about healthcare. (“Concepts of a plan.”) The $1 million sanctions order she got from Judge Donald Middlebrooks for filing a frivolous RICO suit against Hillary Clinton, James Comey, and half the Democrats in DC. (“A Hillary Clinton-appointed judge sanctioned me for suing Hillary Clinton.”)
But no one was interested in Habba’s take on drug prices. (“Going down.”) Less than 24 hours after the Justice Department indicted Comey for posting seashells on Insta, Habba was invited on to be the heel. Her job was to indignantly insist that Comey had been threatening to assassinate Trump, and then absorb the audience’s inevitable scorn … which she did.
Habba gamely rolled her eyes and sneered and played her part to perfection, claiming that the former FBI director had threatened to murder the president. No weaponization here!
But Habba did more than just defend the indictment. She also claimed that law enforcement routinely charges defendants under 18 USC § 875 for using the number “86.”
“A gentleman posted that about me. He posted on Twitter 86 Habba and he was also charged,” she huffed. “He was charged in Florida. He was held accountable because you cannot do it.”
Was he now?
On June 25, 2025, an Orlando man named Salvatore Russotto was charged under § 875 for making true threats to Habba. He did indeed tweet “86 HABBA” multiple times. As part of an extended social media bender the prior month, Russotto called to “86” Chuck Schumer, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Joe Biden, Jim Comey, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Canada, “all demonRATS,” and Black people. Only he didn’t say “Black people.”
Russotto was not charged with threatening Canada or Biden or Comey, whom he said “needs to die a slow and painful death” and “must be eliminated.” He was only charged with threatening Habba, the president’s former personal lawyer who was then LARP-ing as US Attorney for New Jersey.
This is not terrific evidence of even-handed administration of justice. On the other hand, Russotto did tweet at Habba nine times in an hour on May 20. In addition to calling to “86” her, he repeatedly wished for her “slow and painful death” and demanded that she get the death penalty.
Arguably, Russotto’s tweets are protected First Amendment speech under Watts v. US and Counterman v. Colorado. We’ll never find out, though, since he took a plea, agreeing to spend a year on probation and get mental health treatment. In any event, this is clearly closer to a “true threat,” than tweeting a picture of seashells at no one in particular. And a cursory examination of the exhibits in Russotto’s prosecution actually highlights how unevenly Trump’s DOJ treats these supposed threats.
Sadly, Habba is unlikely to make an encore appearance to correct the record with the ladies of The View. Host Sunny Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, mercilessly skewered Habba, reminding her that the 11th Circuit was no more impressed with that RICO trollsuit than that “Hillary Clinton appointee.” Time to run back to the Fox greenroom!
But perhaps those “86 Comey” tweets will come up in a motion to dismiss for selective and vindictive prosecution in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Liz Dye produces the Law and Chaos Substack and podcast. You can subscribe by clicking the logo:
The post Alina Habba Exonerates Comey. But Not On Purpose. appeared first on Above the Law.
This week Alina Habba went on The View to tell those godless liberals what’s up. She was asked about the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. (“Still rattled.”) She was asked about healthcare. (“Concepts of a plan.”) The $1 million sanctions order she got from Judge Donald Middlebrooks for filing a frivolous RICO suit against Hillary Clinton, James Comey, and half the Democrats in DC. (“A Hillary Clinton-appointed judge sanctioned me for suing Hillary Clinton.”)
But no one was interested in Habba’s take on drug prices. (“Going down.”) Less than 24 hours after the Justice Department indicted Comey for posting seashells on Insta, Habba was invited on to be the heel. Her job was to indignantly insist that Comey had been threatening to assassinate Trump, and then absorb the audience’s inevitable scorn … which she did.
Habba gamely rolled her eyes and sneered and played her part to perfection, claiming that the former FBI director had threatened to murder the president. No weaponization here!
But Habba did more than just defend the indictment. She also claimed that law enforcement routinely charges defendants under 18 USC § 875 for using the number “86.”
“A gentleman posted that about me. He posted on Twitter 86 Habba and he was also charged,” she huffed. “He was charged in Florida. He was held accountable because you cannot do it.”
Was he now?
On June 25, 2025, an Orlando man named Salvatore Russotto was charged under § 875 for making true threats to Habba. He did indeed tweet “86 HABBA” multiple times. As part of an extended social media bender the prior month, Russotto called to “86” Chuck Schumer, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Joe Biden, Jim Comey, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Canada, “all demonRATS,” and Black people. Only he didn’t say “Black people.”
Russotto was not charged with threatening Canada or Biden or Comey, whom he said “needs to die a slow and painful death” and “must be eliminated.” He was only charged with threatening Habba, the president’s former personal lawyer who was then LARP-ing as US Attorney for New Jersey.
This is not terrific evidence of even-handed administration of justice. On the other hand, Russotto did tweet at Habba nine times in an hour on May 20. In addition to calling to “86” her, he repeatedly wished for her “slow and painful death” and demanded that she get the death penalty.
Arguably, Russotto’s tweets are protected First Amendment speech under Watts v. US and Counterman v. Colorado. We’ll never find out, though, since he took a plea, agreeing to spend a year on probation and get mental health treatment. In any event, this is clearly closer to a “true threat,” than tweeting a picture of seashells at no one in particular. And a cursory examination of the exhibits in Russotto’s prosecution actually highlights how unevenly Trump’s DOJ treats these supposed threats.
Sadly, Habba is unlikely to make an encore appearance to correct the record with the ladies of The View. Host Sunny Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, mercilessly skewered Habba, reminding her that the 11th Circuit was no more impressed with that RICO trollsuit than that “Hillary Clinton appointee.” Time to run back to the Fox greenroom!
But perhaps those “86 Comey” tweets will come up in a motion to dismiss for selective and vindictive prosecution in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Liz Dye produces the Law and Chaos Substack and podcast. You can subscribe by clicking the logo:
