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By Éric Lach
“This trial is about getting it to stop, once and for all,” attorney Roberta Kaplan said Friday morning during closing arguments in the Carroll v. Trump case. Five years ago, Kaplan’s client, publisher E. Jean Carroll wrote an article in a New York magazine describing how Donald Trump once forced himself on her in the dressing room of a Manhattan branch. Since then, Trump has attacked Carroll publicly, not only denying that the attack took place but calling her an “imbecile” who deserves to “pay dearly” for entering “dangerous territory. “Online, her legions of enthusiasts subjected her to more threats and abuse for daring to speak out against their ideal leader. On Friday afternoon, a jury of nine New Yorkers agreed with her, saying the former president had defamed her and ordering him to pay dearly: $83. 3 million in damages.
That is a huge number. Last spring, after hearing a similar case brought by Carroll opposed to Trump, an earlier jury also sided with Carroll and found that Trump had sexually assaulted her and then defamed her; However, the reward in that case was five million dollars. During this second trial, which began in mid-January, Carroll’s lawyers came under pressure because Trump’s attacks on her client continued even after the first jury ruled against him. “It’s a false story, a made-up story,” Trump told CNN at the town hall last spring. “What kind of woman meets someone and elevates them and within minutes you’re playing tissues in a dressing room?” On the contrary, the attacks intensified after the last trial. “For more than four years, she hasn’t avoided it,” said Shawn Crowley, another attorney for Carroll. “How much money will it take to arrest him?” Kaplan, in his closing arguments, reminded jurors that Trump claims to be a billionaire. “It will take unusually high punitive damages to deter Donald Trump,” he said. She advised at least twenty-four million dollars. Jurors alone raised $83. 3 million.
Shortly after the verdict was read, Trump posted a message on Truth Social, his fan-only site. “I strongly disagree with any of the verdicts and will appeal this entire Biden-led witch hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” he wrote. It doesn’t occur to me that Carroll sued Trump for the first time in 2019, long before Biden was elected. )”They took away all of his First Amendment rights,” he added. The message was absurd. But Trump didn’t say anything about Carroll in his speech, which must have seemed part of the victory.
Trump skipped trial in Carroll’s previous trial against him, but gave that impression in the courtroom several times in this one, which began the day after his victory in the Iowa caucuses. At first I thought he was waiting for the drama and then flew to New Hampshire and told the crowd coming straight from a Manhattan courtroom (and, my goodness, his assistants were), they were tired. But after the verdict was announced, I wondered if Trump had perhaps learned faster than anyone else that he had bigger problems this time.
Throughout the two-week trial, Trump deliberately made himself a nuisance in the courtroom. During jury selection, when Judge Lewis Kaplan (no relation to Roberta Kaplan) asked several dozen potential jurors if any of them believed the 2020 election was stolen, Trump cheekily raised his hand. “Witch hunt,” he muttered loudly to his lawyers on the trial’s second day. “Con job.” When Judge Kaplan threatened to eject him from the courtroom, Trump replied, “I would love it.” On Thursday, as the judge and one of Trump’s lawyers argued about what he would be allowed to say after he took the stand, Trump piped up from the defense table. “I don’t know who this woman is,” he said, looking in the direction of Carroll, who was seated two tables away, “never met this woman.” As he said this, he made a gesture spreading his hands, something that I for some reason thought he only did on TV. On Friday, Trump stormed out of the courtroom during Roberta Kaplan’s closing argument, only to slink back in a while later, when one of his lawyers was talking.
He’s about to count the number of lawyers Trump has consulted since taking office, but his lead attorney in that lawsuit was Alina Habba, in the past known for representing Siggy Flicker, a former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member who accused Facebook. of deactivating his account after wishing a happy birthday to former first girlfriend Melania Trump. Habba seemed unable to distinguish between his client’s interests and his opinion, raising his voice and constantly arguing with Judge Kaplan, who at one point advised Habba, “You deserve to refresh your memory on how a document is obtained as evidence. “
It is to the credit of the juries that they do not get carried away by any of these distractions. In addition to asking prospective jurors if they even knew the 2020 jury choice was stolen, Judge Kaplan asked them for data about their political history and news intake. habits. Most of the prospective jurors weren’t too concerned about politics and didn’t read, watch, or listen to much information. Most of those in the courtroom said they hadn’t heard the case until they got to the courtroom, even though it was confirmation that a former president was a sexual predator. And yet, after closely examining the facts, nine people randomly chosen by other people decided that Trump was guilty of what he had done and deserved to be punished for it. In this, the jury was more than the U. S. Congress was able to do. It gives you a kind of hope.
On Tuesday, the networks rated the New Hampshire Republican Party as Trump’s presidential number one as soon as the polls closed. The political truth is that Trump has control over the Republican Party’s voter base, but the legal truth is that Trump is in deeper and deeper trouble. When will those two realities collide and what will happen then? Does Trump have at least $83. 3 million? (New York State Attorney General Letitia James is currently seeking $370 million from Trump in a separate civil case similar to the Trump Organization’s shady business practices. ) Meanwhile, there’s CarrollArray. She may simply be a hero in American history. Most people don’t know who she is, but she was once very important. The idea to sue Trump came from George Conway, the conservative lawyer married to Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, with whom he spoke at a party in the summer of 2019, a few months after the publication of his article in New York magazine. . A few months later, Elle ended her long-running recommendations column, “Ask E. Jean. ” She was in her seventies at the time and the president of the United States publicly expected something terrible to happen to her. She now sleeps with a loaded gun next to her bed. ♦
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