Donald Trump threw up his hands and said he would “love” for the judge in his New York defamation trial to throw him off the court for loudly criticizing sexual abuse accuser E. Jean Carroll while testifying Wednesday.
Lawyers for the “Ask E. Jean” advice columnist twice complained that the former president was providing running commentary to his team within earshot of jurors, including calling Carroll’s testimony “false” and complaining that “he now seems to have finally recovered his memory.” .”
“Mr. Trump has a right to be present here, but that right may be lost if he is disruptive… or ignores our orders,” Manhattan federal judge Lewis Kaplan warned after first warning Trump, 77, to “maintain “Keep your voice low” when speaking to your lawyers.
“Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial. I understand that you are very anxious for me to do that,” Kaplan said.
“I would love to. I would love to,” Trump mocked, interrupting the judge while making a theatrical gesture with his hands.
“I know you would like that, because you apparently can’t control yourself under these circumstances,” the judge said.
Trump said he would love to see the judge throw him out of a Manhattan courtroom for strong comments the former president made during his accuser’s testimony. AFP via Getty Images
“You can’t either,” Trump responded.
Carroll, who is seeking $10 million in damages from Trump, was the first witness to testify in her case against the real estate mogul, coming face to face with him for the first time in court.
The Republican presidential candidate returned to the Lower Manhattan courthouse Wednesday morning, fresh from a 2024 campaign event in New Hampshire, after attending jury selection and opening statements the day before.
He was seen with strange red marks on his right hand as he waved as he left Trump Tower, but they had mysteriously disappeared by the time he arrived at the courtroom.
During an earlier break in testimony, when the jury was out of the room, Carroll’s attorney, Shawn Crowley, told Kaplan that Trump was “saying things out loud” that the jury could hear.
“I’m going to ask Mr. Trump to be especially careful to keep his voice low when speaking to his attorney so that the jury doesn’t hear,” the judge said in response.
But Crowley brought up the issue again before the lunch break, alleging that Trump had not heeded Kaplan’s instructions and was still mumbling loudly during Carroll’s testimony.
Carroll took the witness stand with Trump present for their first court showdown Wednesday. AP
“He said it’s a witch hunt, it’s really a scam,” Crowley said.
In June 2019, Carroll went public with her accusation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in 1996.
She sued Trump for defamation after he denied ever knowing her and said she was not his “type,” in a statement to reporters from the White House.
In May, a jury in a separate case found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and ordered him to pay $5 million in damages.
“I am here because Donald Trump attacked me and when asked about it he denied it,” the 80-year-old writer said as she began her testimony in the present case on Wednesday.
Carroll said he has received death threats since Trump denied his allegations. REUTERS
Trump, dressed in his usual dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie, looked at his accuser from a few feet away as he continued: “I’m here to restore my reputation and stop you from telling lies about me.”
Carroll said Trump’s lies destroyed his reputation as a trusted advice columnist and “ended the world” in which he lived.
“I am now known as a liar, a scammer and a crazy person,” she said.
“Having the president of the United States, one of the most powerful people on Earth, call me a liar for three days and say I’m a liar 26 times (I counted) ended the world I had been living in. Carroll said.
Carroll said he lost his journalistic reputation after Trump’s comments against him. REUTERS
Before Trump’s comments, Carroll used to receive about 200 emails a month asking for relationship advice, and after his remarks, that number dropped to just eight a month, she said.
Following the 45th president’s comments, Carroll said, he received horrible death threats and messages from online trolls.
He recalled being in a hotel room when he received the first death threat on June 21, 2019, the same day Trump publicly denied his allegations.
“I thought they were going to shoot me,” Carroll said, describing how he panicked as he struggled to close the hotel room curtains that day.
Jurors were shown about a dozen hate messages the New York journalist received, including one that said, “I hope you die soon” and another that said she should die through an “execution” or a ” firing squad.”
When Trump left Trump Tower to go to court on Wednesday, he was seen with mysterious red marks on his hands. AFP via Getty Images
Carroll says he still lives in fear and even looks over his shoulder when he puts his car in the garage after shopping.
And to this day, he receives unpleasant messages: “hundreds a day.”
When Trump said she was “not my type,” Carroll said he actually meant, “I’m too ugly to be attacked,” a sentiment she said made it difficult to get up in the morning.
“I know I’m old. “I know I’m 80 years old,” Carroll said. “I know I’m not a pretty young woman, but I find it difficult to get on with the day.”
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn