by Hours after shutting down dozens of Social Truth posts attacking E Jean Carroll, Donald Trump appeared on the witness stand in a trial that will determine how much he is liable for defamation.
On his way to federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, the former president – before labeling the central defamation claims against him “false” while on the witness stand – described the case against him as a “witch hunt conceived and funded by political operatives. ” and revived a baseless conspiracy theory that the lawsuits and criminal indictments against him were “election interference” to prevent his second presidency.
In a series of late-night posts, he blasted the case as a “hoax” and repeated potentially defamatory statements about Ms Carroll that had previously been used against her. When he came to court, his account declared he was “not guilty” and shared poll numbers and favorable coverage for his campaign, as well as an all-fail statement claiming immunity from prosecution in an unrelated case.
A New York City jury in the civil trial will determine the monetary damages owed to Mr. Carroll, a former former minister Elle magazine writer who Mr Trump has repeatedly defamed by claiming he never met her, labeling her a liar and denying he sexually assaulted her. Last year, a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and Mr Carroll is seeking an additional $10m in compensatory and punitive damages for additional claims.
The facts of the case have already been established, and Mr. Trump is barred from disputing that he sexually abused her, leaving a trial focused exclusively on damages owed.
Before he was called to the witness stand, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan instructed the former president’s attorney Alina Habba that she could only ask him if he stands by his previous deposition testimony, and if he has given an instruction no one ever hurt Mr. Carroll.
While the jury was out of the room, and the judge and attorneys were discussing what he had to say, Mr. Trump interrupted Ms. Habba to repeat that he had not met Carroll and does not know her. The judge told him to keep his voice down.
And in a very brief exchange after just three questions from his attorney, Mr. Trump testified that he stands “100 percent” by his previous deposition.
“Yes, I did,” he said. “She said something that I considered to be a false accusation – completely false.”
Judge Kaplan cut Mr. Trump off. “Everything after ‘yes I did’ is hit,” he said.
Asked by Ms Habba if he had ever instructed anyone to hurt Mr Carroll, Mr Trump replied: “No, I just wanted me, my family and, frankly, the presidency to protect.”
Under brief cross-examination by Ms. Carroll’s lawyers, Mr. Trump confirmed that a defamation trial was already underway against him. His solicitor asked if he had followed the advice of his barrister in that case. Mr Trump said he did.
Judge Kaplan then adjourned for the day. Closing arguments will begin on Friday.
Mr. Trump, who has been counting on his growing list of legal battles to benefit his campaign, sparred with the judge in court last week, drawing a warning that he could be removed from the courtroom. At a press conference, he claimed that he was the one who should be given “money” for getting involved in the case.
The trial resumed on Thursday after Judge Kaplan postponed proceedings for two days after jurors and Mr Trump’s lawyer were exposed to Covid-19.
Before restating her case on Thursday, Ms. Carroll’s attorneys played videos from Mr. Trump’s earlier taped deposition, in which he denounced the case against him as a “hoax” and called Ms. Carroll a “liar” and a “sick person.”
Ms Carroll’s solicitors also showed the court a clip from his appearance on the far-right media network NewsMax last week, when he repeated his claim that he had not met the woman he was suing.
Judge Kaplan denied another attempt by Mr. Habba to throw out the case, after rejecting her motion for a mistrial based on Ms. Carroll’s witness testimony that she deleted threatening messages sent to her after Mr. Trump was convicted of rape. Judge Kaplan said she had no duty to preserve them.
Ms Habba tried to undermine Ms Carroll’s claims that her safety was at risk as Ms Carroll’s friend Carol Martin, who was a news anchor, was questioned on the witness stand.
Last year, during the first defamation trial, Mr. Martin testified that Ms. Carroll had confided in her soon after Mr. Trump attacked her in the mid-1990s. The pair were working at the same cable network at the time when Ms Carroll was “frenzied” and “anxious” and told Ms Martin several times that Mr Trump had “pinned” and “into” her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store .
Mr. Martin testified that she told her not to tell anyone, “because it was Donald Trump and he had a lot of attorneys and I thought he would bury her like I told her,” she said at the time.
“I’m a big consumer of news and I keep up with everything I can as it happens and the climate of the country felt dangerous to me,” Mr Martin said on Thursday.
Ariana Baio contributed reporting from Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s federal courthouse
