In this courtroom sketch, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, Donald Trump, lower left, watches his attorney Alina Habba, standing center, question witness Carol Martin, far right, in federal court in New York. Judge Lewis Kaplan is on the bench, and E. Jean Carroll is seated, background left. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Former President Donald Trump, after serial efforts to delay the inevitable, testified in the trial over author E. Jean Carroll’s long-running defamation lawsuit against him on Thursday afternoon.
In a New York City courtroom, before taking the stand, Trump audibly protested about the circumstances of his appearance and was quickly shot down by the judge overseeing the case.
“I wasn’t at the trial,” the 45th president said in reference to earlier proceedings, according to a courtroom report by Politico’s Erica Orden. “I don’t know who this woman is. I never met this woman.”
“Mr. Trump, please keep your voice down,” U.S. District for the Southern District of New York Judge Lewis A. Kaplan replied.
The trial concerns Trump’s strongly worded denials of Carroll’s 2019 claim that he raped her in the dressing room of New York City department store Bergdorf Goodman sometime in the late 1990s. In response to those allegations, Trump told The Hill his accuser was “totally lying” and that “she’s not my type.” A lawsuit soon ensued.
Thursday’s proceedings are an extension of many related legal actions filed by Carroll since the former Elle advice columnist revealed her sexual assault and the then-president disputed the allegation.
Originally filed in New York State Supreme Court (the court of first instance in the Empire State), after several years of procedural hurdles, and though there is no federal defamation law, the case was moved to federal court. The case was assigned to Kaplan — a Bill Clinton-appointed judge whom Trump regularly criticized in the media. In May 2023, during a trial in which the defendant did not participate, Trump was found liable by a jury for battery and defamation and Carroll was awarded $5 million.
After that verdict in her favor, Carroll sued again. This time, for Trump’s post-verdict comments. In the second instance, Carroll requested $10 million. In September 2023, Kaplan issued a summary judgment in the author’s favor — ruling the facts established at trial were not disputable.
Judge Kaplan and Trump’s lead attorney squabbled for several minutes over how the court would cabin the ex-president’s testimony.
Trump was sworn in at 2:17 p.m. EST. His full time on the stand spanned roughly three minutes.
“The defense calls President Donald Trump,” Habba intoned.
Ultimately, the defense was told by the court that they could ask only two questions. Habba began by asking whether her client stood by his deposition testimony, Orden reported.
“One hundred percent,” Trump replied. “Yes.”
Trump’s attorney then asked him whether he denied Carroll’s accusation in order to defend himself. Trump said: “Yes I did.”
The defendant then essayed: “That’s exactly right. She said something I considered a false accusation.”
That added commentary prompted an objection from Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge.
The court sustained the objection and instructed the jury to disregard everything Trump said following: “Yes, I did.”
Habba then asked her client if he instructed anyone to hurt Carroll.
“No,” Trump answered. “I just wanted to defend myself, my family and frankly, the presidency.”
Judge Kaplan then told the jury to ignore everything Trump said following: “No.”
Habba’s direct examination was over.
On cross-examination, Trump was asked two questions by attorney Kaplan. The first was whether a trial in the present case had occurred. Trump answered in the affirmative. The second question was whether this was the first trial in the Carroll matters that Trump had personally attended. Again, he answered yes.
On redirect, Habba asked her client if he had a defense attorney and was therefore acting on the advice of counsel during the first Carroll trial. Trump again answered in the affirmative. Attorney Kaplan objected and Judge Kaplan sustained the objection. After that, Trump left the stand.
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