Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
Writer E. Jean Carroll testified Wednesday in the second day of her second defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, who is voluntarily attending the civil trial in federal court in Manhattan and may testify this time. Trump's audible comments and theatrical gestures Wednesday earned him two warnings from U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, including a threat to throw him out of court.
"I'm here because Donald Trump assaulted me and when I wrote about it, he said it never happened," Carroll said. "He lied and he shattered my reputation" as a journalist, "and now I'm known as the 'liar,' the 'fraud' and the 'whack job.'"
A separate federal jury already found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in the 1990s and defaming her in 2022, and ordered Trump to pay her $5 million. This trial will decide how much more Trump will have to pay her for comments he made in 2019. Carroll is asking for $10 million plus punitive damages.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
After Carroll's lawyers told Kaplan that Trump was still making comments like "witch hunt" and "con job" that could be heard by the jury, the judge warned that Trump's "right to be present here" can "be forfeited if he is disruptive" and "disregards court orders."
"Mr. Trump, I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial," Kaplan told him. "I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that." Trump, throwing up his hands, said, "I would love it." "I know you would," Kaplan agreed. "You just can't control yourself in this circumstance, apparently." "You can't either," Trump muttered.
After Trump's "blowup" with Kaplan, "there were no further admonishments, but the former president continued to look visibly irritated" as his lawyer Alina Habba was repeatedly overruled in her cross-examination of Carroll, The Washington Post reported. Kaplan also "scolded Habba" for not standing up to make an objection and other "issues involving courtroom decorum, including when he admonished her repeatedly on Wednesday for improperly trying to introduce exhibits and suggested she use a break in the action to 'refresh your memory' about the trial procedure."
It was "glaringly obvious" on Wednesday that Habba "doesn't know what the hell she's doing," legal analyst Katie Phang said on MSNBC. "She does not have the requisite trial skills to be defending the former president of the United States in a multimillion-dollar defamation trial, and yet you get what you pay for."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Magazine interactive crossword - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine solutions - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Anders Breivik to testify in prison isolation lawsuit against Norway
Speed Read Far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in 2011 claims he has received 'inhuman treatment' in custody
By The Week UK Published
-
Former Philadelphia police officer charged with murder for Eddie Irizarry shooting
Speed Read
By Rafi Schwartz Published