E. Jean Carroll took the witness stand Wednesday damages the court In New York federal court against Donald Trump, the writer testified in front of the visibly agitated former president, who was charged with sexual assault and sexual abuse. slander his.
“I’m here because Donald Trump attacked me, and when I wrote about it, he lied and damaged my reputation,” Carroll, 80, told jurors.
Trump appeared nervous at times during his testimony. shook his head angrily and made comments to his attorney as Carroll spoke. At one point, after U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Trump’s lawyer to sit down after an objection, Trump slammed the table and made a “good guy” comment to his lawyer, apparently referring to the judge.
During a morning recess, Carroll’s attorney, Sean Crowley, told the judge that Trump made loud comments, that some of the statements were “false” and that they caused cracks in Carroll’s memory.
Before the jury returned, Kaplan said: “I’m just going to ask Mr. Trump to take special care to keep his voice down so the jury doesn’t hear it.”
When Carroll took the stand for the first time in the morning, he walked past Trump, who was sitting at the defense table, and he looked the other way. She testified that Trump has repeatedly lied about her since 2019, when she first came forward with allegations that he sexually assaulted her in a locker room. at a Manhattan department store In 1996.
She said she “expected him to respond” to her claim when she first went public.
“I thought he was going to deny it and say it was consensual, but it wasn’t,” Carroll said. Instead, Trump said, “I’ve never met this woman in my life,” adding, “That’s a lie.”
“He said I made it up to sell books, and that’s a lie,” and “he said my false accusations hurt the real victims of the attack, and that’s a lie,” Carroll said. He said the then-president said “people have to pay a lot” and “I paid as much as possible”.
Trump’s remarks “ended the world I lived in,” said Carroll, who said he was the target of hateful attacks from his supporters on Twitter and other social media. “It happened immediately,” he said, a quote many of the attackers used from Trump.
“It was very unexpected,” he said, and “the messages never stopped.”
“I take them all the time, sometimes hundreds a day,” he said. The jury was shown several of the threats he had received, many containing graphic threats of violence.
“I want my reputation back,” Carroll told the jury.
Carroll is expected to answer questions from his lawyers for two hours before being cross-examined by Trump’s lawyers.
In his opening statement Tuesday, Carroll’s attorney, Shawn Crowley, told jurors that his client “will tell you that not a day has gone by since the first defamation of Donald Trump that he is not afraid. He’ll tell you how it changed his life in some ways.”
When Carroll broke his silence in a 2019 book, Trump “didn’t just deny the attack” — “he went much, much further,” he said. He accused her of lying and fabricating a story to earn money and plot some political conspiracy against her. And threatened him. He said that he should pay dearly for speaking against him.
“Donald Trump was president when he made these statements, and he used the biggest microphone in the world to attack Ms. Carroll, humiliate her, and destroy her reputation.
Trump, 77, was sued in a separate civil lawsuit last year for sexually assaulting and defaming Carroll after he left the White House. $5 million verdict, he appeals. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan used that ruling to find Trump is responsible also because of what he said when he was president, so the jury in the present case will decide only what amount of damages he should be awarded.
Crowley told jurors that Trump has continued his attacks since the verdict by posting comments on his Truth Social platform while in court on Tuesday.
“He sat in this courthouse this morning. And while he sat there he published more defamatory statements, more lies about Ms. Carroll and this case. By our count, at our last count, 22 posts today. Think about it. To stop him When you think about how much money you need, think about that,” he said.
Trump, who won the Iowa caucuses on Monday, was in court Tuesday for jury selection but left before the announcement to attend a campaign rally in New Hampshire. His defiant courtroom appearances and high-profile campaign events are a harbinger of the year ahead. In addition to the Carroll trial, he also faces four felony and civil fraud convictions That could destroy his real estate business as he seeks another term in the White House.
He denied assaulting Carroll and claimed the case was “fictitious”.
Her lawyer, Alina Habba, told the jury on Tuesday that Trump’s legal team will show that Carroll should not be awarded any damages because “the evidence will show that Ms. Carroll’s reputation was not harmed by President Trump’s statements. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. She has more fame than she ever imagined.” , gained more fame.”
“He’s looking for you to make him money because some people have said bad things about him on social media. But in this day and age, the internet always has something to say and it’s not always going to be nice,” Habba added. .