Between the Iowa caucuses on Monday and the New Hampshire caucuses next Tuesday, former US President Donald Trump is taking part in a defamation trial in New York this week over a lawsuit filed by writer and journalist E. Jean Carroll. A popular jury has already declared that Trump abused her and ordered her to pay $5 million, but now it will decide whether Trump defamed her after she reported the sexual assault. This Wednesday, in the second session of the trial, Trump continued to make loud comments during E. Jean Carroll's testimony, and the judge threatened to expel him from the courtroom if he did not remain silent. “I would like to,” Trump replied.
E. Jean Carroll, now 80, has said that Trump destroyed her reputation after she accused him of sexual abuse, but she did so under constant intervention from Trump, who spoke to his lawyers but in a tone which was audible to those present in the room. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told the former president that his right to attend the trial would be revoked if he continued to interrupt. After an initial warning, Carroll's lawyer said Trump could still hear comments made to his lawyers, including “it's a witch hunt” and “it's really a scam,” according to quotes obtained by the Associated Press.
“Mr. Trump, I hope I don't have to think about excluding you from the trial,” Kaplan said in an exchange after the jury had gone to lunch, adding, “I understand that you're probably looking forward to it.” I would like to,” Trump replied, shrugging his shoulders as he sat between his lawyers at the defense table. “I know you would like it. Under these circumstances it obviously cannot be controlled,” Kaplan replied. “Neither can you,” Trump muttered.
The judge's warning came after Carroll's attorney, Shawn Crowley, complained for the second time that Trump could be heard “loudly saying what's wrong.” Crowley said, among other things, that the former Elle magazine columnist lied about the attack and that she appeared to have “regained her memory.” Crowley pointed out that even if Carroll's lawyers had heard Trump from their seat nearly 15 feet away, the jury could have heard him.
“I just want to ask Mr. Trump to be especially careful to lower his voice when he speaks to the attorneys to make sure the jury doesn't hear him,” Kaplan said before jurors returned to the courtroom after the morning recess. picks up the Associated Press. Earlier, without the jury in the room, Trump was seen slamming his hand on the defense table and uttering the word “man” as the judge reinstated his lawyer's request to pause the trial on Thursday declined so she could attend to her mother's funeral in Florida. The negotiations are open to the press and the public, but will not be broadcast on the Internet or on television.
Carroll recounted in his book “Why Do We Need Men?” A Modest Proposal that Trump raped her in the dressing rooms of a luxury Manhattan department store in 1995 or 1996. At the time, Carroll hosted the television show Ask E. Jean, inspired by her famous column in Elle magazine, a successful sex film and sentimental clinic.
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Trump, who was president at the time the book was published, responded to the allegations by saying it could never have happened because Carroll was “not his type.” His comments led to Carroll filing a defamation lawsuit against him, but that lawsuit became embroiled in a dispute in appeals courts over whether Trump was protected from legal claims for comments he made while he was president. Carroll had not been able to sue the former president directly over the rape in the years since the events, but last November he filed a new lawsuit against the former president in New York, taking advantage of the enactment of a new state law. the Adult Survivors Act, which allowed victims of sexual violence to sue civilly for attacks that occurred decades ago.
As a result, he was convicted of sexual abuse last May. The jury found that there was no rape but sexual abuse and set the amount of compensation at five million dollars.
In his statement Wednesday, Carroll lamented the reputational damage caused by Trump's words. “I paid everything that could be paid,” he said, according to the Associated Press. She said Trump's hatred of her has not stopped, pointing to several social media messages he has posted about her in recent days. “He lied last month. He lied on Sunday. He lied yesterday. And I’m here to reclaim my reputation,” Carroll said.
Carroll said she received a barrage of death threats, prompting her to, among other things, buy bullets for a gun she inherited from her father, install an electronic fence and warn her neighbors about the threats. She also attended the trial with an escort this week and last May and said she has often thought about hiring security to accompany her more often. “Why don’t you do it?” his lawyer asked him. “I can’t afford that,” Carroll replied.
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