The judge in former President Donald Trump’s defamation trial in New York City scolded Trump Thursday after Trump grumbled that he had never met accuser E. Jean Carroll.
Carroll sued Trump for $10 million, charging he defamed her in 2019 after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. Although Judge Lewis Kaplan has already ruled Trump defamed Carroll in his comments, the amount of any settlement remains to be determined by the civil case. Carroll won a civil case against Trump last year in which she was awarded $5 million after a jury said she had been sexually assaulted and defamed, although it did not support her claim of rape, according to The New York Times.
Before Trump was allowed to testify, Kaplan and Trump attorney Alina Habba discussed what Trump would be asked.
While they were talking, Trump had something of his own to say.
“I never met the woman. I do not know who this woman is. I was not at the trial. I don’t know who this woman is,” he said, according to CNN.
“Keep your voice down, Mr. Trump,” Kaplan said, according to the New York Post.
But a Trump trial being a Trump trial, this was not the end.
When Kaplan asked Habba if Trump was aware of limits on his testimony, Habba began to answer as Trump leaned over to whisper to her, CNN reported.
Kaplan chided Trump and said he was interrupting the proceedings and that was not to be allowed.
Is this judge being unfair to Trump?
“You viewed your deposition, didn’t you?” Habba asked Trump when he had taken the stand, according to the Post.
“Yes, I did,” Trump said.
“Do you stand by it?” Habba asked.
“One hundred percent. Yes,” Trump said.
Then Trump went beyond what Kaplan would allow after Habba asked Trump if he denied the allegations to defend himself.
“Yes, I did. That’s exactly right. [Carroll] said something I considered a false allegation,” Trump said.
Kaplan then told the jury to disregard everything that came after “Yes I did.”
A similar instruction from Kaplan followed Habba’s question asking Trump if he wanted to hurt Carroll.
“No, I just wanted to defend myself, my family … and frankly, the presidency,” Trump said.
Kaplan said the jury should disregard everything Trump said after “No.”
CNN noted that when Carroll’s attorneys tried to ask about Carroll’s trial against him last year, as his lawyers objected, Trump looked at the jury and shook his head from side to side.
Although the judge had the last word when Trump was on the stand, the Times said when he was done and was leaving the courtroom, Trump got in one final comment.
“This is not America. Not America. This is not America,” Trump said, according to The Times.
