Defiant Trump raises clenched fist as he heads to court in defamation case
Donald Trump appeared defiant as he left Trump Tower this morning to head to court for the ongoing defamation case brought by writer E.Jean Carroll in lower Manhattan.
The former US president was seen raising his fist and greeting people who gathered on Fifth Avenue in New York City this morning. He could testify in court as soon as today in the defamation trial over his 2019 comments branding Carroll a liar who faked a sexual attack to sell a memoir. 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 will not be allowed to say she concocted her allegation or that she was motivated by financial or political considerations.
While Carroll testified last week, he complained to his lawyers about a “witch hunt” and a “con job” 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 “nasty judge.”
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He greeted people who gathered outside Trump Tower (Andrea Renault/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)“It’s a disgrace, frankly, what’s happening,” Trump told reporters, repeating his claim that Carroll's allegation was “a made-up, fabricated story." In Carroll's case, her lawyers have implored the judge to make Trump swear, before any testimony, that he understands and accepts the court’s restrictions on what he can say.
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“There are any number of reasons why Mr. Trump might perceive a personal or political benefit from intentionally turning this trial into a circus,” attorney Roberta Kaplan wrote in a letter to the judge, who is no relation. Trump is contending with four criminal cases as well as the civil fraud case and Carroll's lawsuit as the presidential primary season gets into gear.
Former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll arriving at Manhattan federal court in New York last week (AFP via Getty Images)“I’m here because Donald Trump assaulted me, and when I wrote about it, he said it never happened. He lied, and he shattered my reputation,” Carroll, a former longtime Elle magazine advice columnist, told jurors and Trump while he was still in court. Trump doesn’t 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 $5million (£3.9million) after deciding that Trump sexually abused her in 1996 and made defamatory comments about her in 2022. Trump is appealing that verdict.
Trump heading to court today (Andrea Renault/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)Trump lawyer Alina Habba told the court in a letter that he might take the stand because, even with the judge's restrictions, “he can still offer considerable testimony in his defence”. 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.
She also suggested he could “show his lack of ill will or spite” by talking about how he “corrected” his initial denial of having ever met Carroll. The revision happened after a reporter called Trump's attention to a 1987 photo of him, Carroll and their then-spouses at a charity event. Trump responded that he was “standing with my coat on in a line - give me a break.”
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