Donald Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, on Monday demanded that the judge presiding over E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against the former president provide “all relevant facts” related to an alleged conflict of interest she had with the Trump’s lead attorney. columnist.
A jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages from Trump last week, before The Post learned from sources that Manhattan federal judge Lewis Kaplan was once a “mentor” to Carroll’s lawyer. Roberta Kaplan (no relation), when they worked together in the early 1990s at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison in Midtown.
“If Your Honor actually worked with Ms. Kaplan in any capacity, especially if there was a mentor/mentee relationship, that fact should have been revealed before any case involving these parties was allowed to move forward,” Habba wrote. in a letter to the judge.
“This issue is particularly troubling as plaintiff’s other lead attorney, Shawn Crowley, served as Your Honor’s law clerk, and we were previously informed that Your Honor co-officiated their wedding.”
Habba was unaware of the potential conflict of interest before The Post’s report. ZUMAPRESS.com A spokesman for Kaplan downplayed the relationship he had with the judge when they worked at the same law firm in the 1990s. REUTERS
Habba argued that the judge could provide information about his alleged relationship with Kaplan that could affect Trump’s anticipated appeal of the defamation judgment and an earlier $5 million judgment in favor of Carroll for sexual abuse.
“Here, without knowing more information (or without having a specific factual denial from Your Honor that you had a mentor-mentee relationship with Ms. Kaplan), we cannot develop our position regarding what specific relief is due request,” Habba wrote. .
“However, surely this Court should provide defense attorneys with all the relevant facts. At the very least, this information could certainly prove relevant to President Trump’s upcoming Rule 59 motion,” he added, referring to Trump’s expected request for a new trial or for the court’s decision to be reconsidered.
“Lew was like his mentor,” a former Paul Weiss partner told The Post of the dynamic between Lewis Kaplan and Roberta Kaplan when they worked together at the firm.
A spokesperson for Roberta Kaplan downplayed any relationship the couple may have had.
“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,” the spokesperson told The Post.
Trump plans to appeal rulings in Carroll’s defamation and sexual assault cases. AP
Habba noted that even before he learned of the alleged conflict of interest, it was clear to him that the court was “openly hostile” toward Trump and his team.
“We believe, and will argue on appeal, that the Court was openly hostile toward defense counsel and President Trump, and showed preferential treatment toward plaintiff’s counsel,” Habba wrote. “Indeed, the court’s rulings, tone and conduct raised significant concerns even before the New York Post’s investigative journalism uncovered these new facts.”
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