Donald Trump returned to the federal courthouse in New York on Thursday, where he is expected to testify in his defense at the trial of E. Jean Carroll. defamation case against him.
Trump was originally expected to testify on Monday, but that was the process postponed after the jury got sick and Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, told the judge that she had been exposed to the coronavirus and was feeling sick. Habba and his adviser, Michael Madaio, tested negative for the virus on Monday.
Trump defeated Nikki Haley on Tuesday GOP pliving etcrimary in New Hampshire During the three-day adjournment, he is likely to take the stand in the afternoon.
Carroll is seeking at least $10 million in damages.”damage to his reputationhumiliation and mental anguish in his public and private life,” and added an unspecified amount of punitive damages “to punish Trump for his willful conduct and to deter Trump and others from continuing to defame him.” Expert value testifying on Carroll’s behalf restores its reputation only $7 million to $12 million.
Carroll is expected to wrap up his case early in the day and begin his defense of Trump. He is listed as one of two possible defense witnesses in the case, where jurors will decide how much restitution he should pay Carroll. slander him When she was in the White House in 2019, accusing him of sexually assaulting her for financial and political reasons.
Last year, a different jury was found Trump is responsible for the attack and slandered Carroll.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan used that jury’s verdict to find Trump is responsible for defaming him in the present case.
The finding limits what Trump can say on the witness stand. Because Trump has been proven to have sexually abused and defamed Carroll, he can’t testify otherwise — even though he He continued to hit Carroll to the public.
“We are prohibited from introducing any testimony, evidence or argument that shows or implies that Mr. Trump did not sexually assault Ms. Carroll, that she fabricated her account of the assault, or that he had any motive to do so,” Kaplan said. wrote in arhowl January 9.
Trump has given no indication that he plans to stick to Kaplan’s guidelines. “I don’t know who he is, I’ll explain,” he told reporters when asked about his testimony before the trial began.
Carroll’s attorneys had asked Kaplan to pre-empt Trump’s testimony in case he “tried it.”to sow chaos.” The judge said that the court “will take the necessary measures not to deviate from its decisions and laws.”
77-year-old Trump already has He collided with Kaplan79, in the courtroom.
During Carroll’s testimony last week, his attorney complained that Trump was offering his attorney animated commentary that the jury could hear. Kaplan asked Trump to “take special care to lower his voice.” The directive apparently didn’t take off — Carroll’s attorney, Shawn Crowley, told the judge that Trump could hear Carroll calling the allegations “fraudulent,” and that the jury could too.
Kaplan then told Trump that he had the right to be present in court, but that he could be denied if he ignored or violated the court order.
“Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to think about impeaching you. I understand that you want me to do that,” Kaplan said.
“I would love to,” Trump replied.
“I know you will because you can’t control yourself in this situation, it seems You just can’t,” Kaplan replied. “Nor can you,” Trump said.
Trump previously said he would testify in the Carroll case, but ultimately he did decided not to.
The jury will hear some sworn testimony from Trump, even if he decides not to testify.
Carroll’s lawyers said they plan to play excerpts from his hour-long film video recording For a jury trial in October 2022. In recent court testimony, Trump called Carroll’s claims “a big lie” and insisted that “physically, she’s not my type.”
He was also shown an old photo of him at an event and Carroll standing together got him wrong for his former wife, Marla Maples.
In addition to the deposition, Carroll’s attorneys are expected to call Roberta Myers, former editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, to testify about Carroll’s reputation when she worked as an advice columnist for the magazine.
Another witness Trump’s team may call is former WCBS-TV anchor Carol Martin in New York.
If Trump takes the stand, it will be the second time in two months he has done so – he testified in November in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million fraud suit against him and his company.
During his time one day on the standTrump called the case a “fraud” and called James a “political hack” and called the judge presiding over the non-jury trial “very hostile.”
That judge is Arthur Engoron is expected to make a decision with their findings in the coming weeks.
Trump last testified before a grand jury in 2013.
In that case, he was sued for allegedly cheating on an 87-year-old woman at a Trump building in Chicago. Associated Press he described his testimony at the time as “sometimes barbed, sometimes arrogant.” The jury found to his advantage.