Judge rebukes Trump for ‘entirely inappropriate’
post before E Jean Carroll testimony
Lewis Kaplan condemns ex-president for calling civil
rape trial ‘a made-up scam’ and Carroll’s lawyer a ‘political operative’
Chris
McGreal and agencies in New York
Wed 26 Apr
2023 11.10 EDT
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/26/trump-rape-trial-e-jean-carroll-testify
Before she
could do so, the judge in the case, Lewis A Kaplan, rebuked Trump for an
“entirely inappropriate” statement on his social media platform, Truth Social,
shortly before proceedings began.
Kaplan
warned the former president’s lawyers that such statements about the case could
bring more legal problems upon himself.
Trump, who
has not attended so far, called the case “a made-up scam”. He also called
Carroll’s lawyer “a political operative” and alluded to a DNA issue Kaplan has
ruled cannot be part of the case.
“This is a
fraudulent and false story – Witch Hunt!” Trump wrote.
Lawyers for
Carroll, whose suit includes claims Trump previously defamed her by publicly
calling her case a “hoax”, “scam”, “lie” and “complete con job”, mentioned his
new statement to Kaplan.
The judge
told Trump’s lawyers: “What seems to be the case is that your client is
basically endeavoring, certainly, to speak to his quote-unquote public, but,
more troubling, the jury in this case about stuff that has no business being
spoken about.”
He also
called Trump’s post “a public statement that, on the face of it, seems entirely
inappropriate”.
The Trump
attorney Joe Tacopina noted that jurors are told not to follow any news or
online commentary about the case. But he said he would ask Trump “to refrain
from any further posts about this case”.
“I hope
you’re more successful,” Kaplan said, adding that Trump “may or may not be
tampering with a new source of potential liability”.
The trial
opened on Tuesday with Carroll’s lawyer, Shawn Crowley, telling the jury of
three women and six men she was seeking “to clear her name, to pursue justice
and to get her life back”.
Carroll
alleges the former president raped her in a New York department store changing
room in 1996, then attempted to “destroy her” by accusing her of lying when she
went public years later.
Tacopina
told the jury he will show that Carroll conspired with other women to falsely
accuse the former president of sexual assault because they “hate” him.
Tacopina
said Carroll went after Trump for political ends, to sell a book and for public
attention.
“The
evidence will show you that what E Jean Carroll is doing is an affront to
justice,” he said.
As it is a
civil case, the jury will decide on the balance of probabilities whether Trump
raped Carroll and then defamed her, and award damages if so.
Carroll’s
legal team is expected to call other witnesses including two women she claims
to have told about the alleged rape shortly after it happened, Lisa Birnbach
and Carol Martin, who have corroborated the account in interviews.
Crowley
told the jurors they will also hear from two other women allegedly sexually assaulted
by Trump in a similar manner.
Jessica
Leeds accuses Trump of assaulting her on a plane in 1979 by grabbing her
breasts and trying to put his hand up her skirt.
Natasha
Stoynoff, a writer for People magazine, is expected to testify that in 2005 Trump
led her into an empty room and forcibly kissed her until he was interrupted.
When the
two women spoke up, Trump attacked them as liars in a similar manner to his
response to Carroll’s accusations.
Crowley
told the jury it will hear excerpts from Trump’s deposition late last year and
other video in which he will be damned by his own words.
“You’ll
hear him bragging about doing almost the same thing he did to Ms Carroll to
other women,” said Crowley.
Trump’s
legal team said last week that the former president would not testify. But on
Monday, Tacopina told the judge the matter was not settled and that Trump could
still be called as a witness.
Associated Press contributed reporting
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