Donald Trump’s lawyers will use a “crazy” and until now unknown “conflict of interest” between E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer and the judge presiding over her defamation case against the former president as the basis of their appeal to throw out the surprising 83, 3 million dollars. jury verdict, The Post has learned.
Trump attorney Alina Habba said she was unaware that Manhattan federal judge Lewis Kaplan and Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan worked together in the early 1990s at the same white-shoe law firm until Saturday. , when asked about it by Post columnist Charles Gasparino, who was told by a source that the judge was once Roberta Kaplan’s “mentor.”
“It was never revealed. It’s crazy and very incestuous,” Habba said, insisting that neither the 79-year-old judge nor Roberta Kaplan, 57, who are not related, disclosed the “conflict of interest” and a violation of judicial ethics rules.
Donald Trump’s lawyers will use a previously unknown “conflict of interest” to appeal the $83.3 million verdict. REUTERS
Roberta Kaplan worked at Paul, Weiss Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison in Midtown from 1992 to 2016, before leaving to become a founding partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink, according to her LinkedIn page.
“This is news to us,” he continued. “We will include this in our appeal and take appropriate action. The fact that it was not disclosed is a violation of ethics.”
During her early years at Paul Weiss, she worked as an associate at the firm at the same time as Judge Kaplan, who was a partner there until 1994, when he was appointed to the federal bench by then-President Bill Clinton.
Zak Sawyer, Roberta Kaplan’s representative, insisted that there is no conflict.
A sketch of U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan’s courtroom. REUTERS
“They overlapped for less than two years in the early 1990s at a large law firm, when he was a senior partner and she was a junior associate and she never worked for him,” said Sawyer, who declined to comment further.
But a former partner at Paul Weiss who asked not to be identified said that, like all associates at the firm, Roberta Kaplan went to great lengths to distinguish herself from partners, including Lewis Kaplan.
“Lew was like his mentor,” said the former couple.
Messages left with Judge Kaplan’s office and with a representative for Paul Weiss were not returned Saturday.
E. Jean Carroll leaves federal court Friday after the jury ruled in her favor. ZUMAPRESS.com
Trump was previously ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in May after a jury found him responsible for abusing her inside a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in 1996.
On Friday, Judge Kaplan oversaw the staggering $83.3 million sentence awarded to Carroll in Manhattan federal court by a jury of five men and four women.
The jury found Trump responsible for defaming Carroll in 2019 when he dismissed her sexual assault allegations as a “hoax” and called her “crazy.”
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba speaks to the media outside the courthouse in November. AP
Some legal experts have questioned the size of the award because it is unclear how much monetary damage Trump caused Carroll.
Following Friday’s verdict, Trump vowed to appeal both decisions.
“Absolutely ridiculous!” criticized Truth Social. “I strongly disagree with both verdicts and will appeal this entire Biden-led witch hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. “Our legal system is out of control and is being used as a political weapon.”
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn