Former President Donald Trump has told the public for years what he thinks of E. Jean Carroll, the writer who claims he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. Now he has a chance to talk to a jury about her \u2013 but within limits, he might well test. Trump could testify as soon as Monday in the defamation trial over his 2019 comments branding Carroll a liar who faked a sexual attack to sell a memoir. He plans to be in court as the New York trial resumes after a weekend break.<\/p>\n
Because a different jury found last year that Trump sexually abused Carroll, US District Judge Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has ruled that if the former president takes the stand now, he won\u2019t be allowed to say she concocted her allegation or that she was motivated by financial or political considerations. But even while just watching the proceedings, the voluble ex-president and current Republican front-runner hasn\u2019t checked his contempt for the case.<\/p>\n
While Carroll testified last week, he complained to his lawyers about a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d and a \u201ccon job\u201d loudly enough so that the judge threatened to throw Trump out of the courtroom if he kept it up. Trump piped down and stayed in court, then held a news conference where he deplored the \u201cnasty judge.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s a disgrace, frankly, what\u2019s happening,\u201d Trump told reporters, repeating his claim that Carroll\u2019s allegation was \u201ca made-up, fabricated story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides tangling with Kaplan, Trump bucked the New York state judge in his recent civil business fraud trial involving claims that he inflated his wealth. Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, delivered a brief closing argument of sorts without committing to rules for summations and assailed the judge from the witness stand. He also was fined a total of USD 15,000 for what the judge deemed violations of a gag order concerning comments about court staffers. Trump\u2019s attorneys are appealing the order.<\/p>\n
In Carroll\u2019s case, her lawyers have implored the judge to make Trump swear, before any testimony, that he understands and accepts the court\u2019s restrictions on what he can say. \u201cThere are any number of reasons why Mr. Trump might perceive a personal or political benefit from intentionally turning this trial into a circus,\u201d attorney Roberta Kaplan wrote in a letter to the judge, who is no relation.<\/p>\n
Trump is contending with four criminal cases as well as the civil fraud case and Carroll\u2019s lawsuit as the presidential primary season gets into gear. He has been juggling court and campaign appearances, using both to argue that he\u2019s being persecuted by Democrats terrified of his possible election. Trump is expected to travel after Monday\u2019s court session to an evening campaign event in New Hampshire, which holds its Republican presidential primary on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
His trips to court at times also have amplified media coverage of developments that he likes \u2013 such as an accounting professor\u2019s testimony for Trump\u2019s defense in the fraud trial \u2013 and his criticisms of developments that he doesn\u2019t. He regularly addressed the news cameras waiting outside the fraud trial in a New York state court. Cameras aren\u2019t allowed in the federal courthouse where the Carroll trial is taking place, so he at one point left and held a news conference at one of his New York buildings even as his accuser continued testifying against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here because Donald Trump assaulted me, and when I wrote about it, he said it never happened. He lied, and he shattered my reputation,\u201d Carroll, a former longtime Elle magazine advice columnist, told jurors and Trump while he was still in court. Trump doesn\u2019t have to attend or give testimony in the civil case. He stayed away last year from the prior trial, where a different jury awarded Carroll USD 5 million after deciding that Trump sexually abused her in 1996 and made defamatory comments about her in 2022. Trump is appealing that verdict.<\/p>\n
For complex legal reasons, Carroll\u2019s defamation claims were divided between two lawsuits. Hence the second trial, where she\u2019s seeking over USD 10 million in damages. Trump has said his lawyers advised him not to dignify the first trial by attending it. He\u2019s attending the second one, he\u2019s said, because of what he views as the judge\u2019s animus.<\/p>\n
Trump lawyer Alina Habba told the court in a letter that he might take the stand because, even with the judge\u2019s restrictions, \u201che can still offer considerable testimony in his defence.\u201d Among other things, he can testify about his state of mind when he made the statements that got him sued and about how his comments came as Carroll was doing media interviews and journalists were asking him about her, Habba wrote.<\/p>\n
She also suggested he could \u201cshow his lack of ill will or spite\u201d by talking about how he \u201ccorrected\u201d his initial denial of having ever met Carroll. The revision happened after a reporter called Trump\u2019s attention to a 1987 photo of him, Carroll and their then-spouses at a charity event. Trump responded that he was \u201cstanding with my coat on in a line \u2013 give me a break.\u201d The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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