Defendant Donald Trump was eager to speak out about the E. Jean Carroll civil rape/defamation trial in New York on his social media account, but when it came time to testifying under oath, he could not be bothered, he flew off to Scotland.
NBC News reports, Trump’s lawyers won’t present defense witnesses in trial over E. Jean Carroll rape allegation:
Former President Donald Trump will not present defense witnesses in the civil trial over allegations he raped writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s, his attorney told the judge Wednesday.
Trump initially had an expert witness lined up to try to rebut Carroll’s claims in the case, but the witness is unable to testify because of “health issues,” Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
The expert was one of only two people on the defense’s witness list before the trial in federal court in Manhattan. The other was Trump.
Tacopina told Kaplan at the end of court Tuesday that Trump wouldn’t be testifying. “It is his call,” Kaplan replied.
The jury did, however, hear directly from Trump later in the day, when lawyers for Carroll played parts of the videotaped deposition he sat for in October. In one clip, Trump called Carroll’s allegations “ridiculous.” He said: “It’s the most ridiculous, disgusting story. It was just made up.”
More of the deposition is expected to be played for the jury Thursday.
Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll, the writer who accused Donald Trump of rape, are expected to rest their case on Thursday after presenting final witnesses on her behalf. https://t.co/PCytSpWBm1
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 4, 2023
But wait! Defendant Trump has apparently been advised by his lawyer that things have not gone well at trial and that the jury is going to find for E. Jean Carroll. Unconfirmed reporting says Trump may now appear at trial. It is not clear that he would testify in his own defense (he may be precluded from doing do so by his lawyer’s statement to the Judge on Wednesday that he would not be presenting a defense).
The Evening Standard in Britain reports, Donald Trump cutting Ireland trip short to ‘confront’ accuser in New York case:
Former US president Donald Trump has said he is cutting his trip to Ireland short so he can return to “confront” his accuser in a New York civil rape case, which he described as a “political attack.”
Mr Trump said he would “probably attend” the hearing as he spoke to reporters while golfing at his resort outside the village of Doonbeg, Co Clare.
Attend is not the same thing as testify. Which is it, asshole?
His visit to Scotland and Ireland has coincided with the second week of a civil trial in Manhattan over accusations, denied by Mr Trump, that he raped former magazine columnist E Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996.
* * *
“And I have to go back for a woman that made a false accusation about me and I have a judge that is extremely hostile.”
Mr Trump said he is going to “go back and confront this woman.”
Sorry, but no, this is not how it works, asshole. Your lawyer has already “confronted” E. Jean Carroll on cross examination, and by all accounts I have seen, he did a terrible job and likely made the jury more sympathetic to E. Jean Carroll with his overly confrontational and aggressive style, for which the judge even had to reprimand him.
Among the reasons you don't want Trump on the witness stand, he has no self control. It will be interesting to see how the judge reacts to this. https://t.co/gEal19xhYO
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) May 4, 2023
Defendant Trump was a horrible witness at deposition in this case, as this sociopath has no self-control. Trump used his deposition in a defamation case to boast, complain, insult Joe Biden, and threaten to sue the attorney questioning him:
On October 19, Trump was deposed for a defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist who has also accused the former president of sexual assault in a separate lawsuit.
An excerpt of Carroll’s and Trump’s depositions were unsealed on Friday.
The records show a combative Trump true to form: He repeatedly insulted Carroll — and at one point mischaracterized her words, claiming she said “rape was sexy” — and gave rambling answers to the opposing counsel, Roberta Kaplan.
* * *
CNN’s Anderson Cooper also gets the heat from Trump.
Carroll’s attorney asked about a video that used portions of Carroll’s 2019 interview with Cooper, during which she explained why she doesn’t like to use the word “rape.”
She explained it “carries so many sexual connotations” and that “most people think of rape as being sexy” and “think of the fantasies.”
During the deposition, Trump misconstrued Carroll’s statement and claimed she said “it was very sexy to be raped.”
As he explained how the video was prepped, Trump called Cooper’s 360 show on CNN “stupid” and a “bad ratings show.”
* * *
An evidently frustrated Trump goes off in his deposition after he’s asked why he issued the October 12 statement.
After calling Carroll’s accusation a “lie,” Trump threatens to sue Carroll and her attorney, Kaplan, who has been deposing him.
“I’ll sue you too because this is — how many cases do you have,” Trump asked.
Kaplan is also representing investors in a fraud suit against Trump and his three oldest children.
He repeats that he’ll be suing Kaplan, to which the counsel replies: “Are you done?”
“Yeah,” Trump answers.
Defendant Trump apparently believes that he can put on the “Trump Show” at trial and get away with it. Judge Kaplan is a no nonsense judge who is not going to put up with Defendant Trump’s crap. And E. Jean Carroll’s attorney gets to cross-examine Defendant Trump, which ought to be worth the price of admission to watch him destroy Trump on cross, as he previewed in his deposition of Trump. Defendant Trump testifying in his own defense almost certainly guarantees a guilty verdict from the jury.
UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal reports, E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump Rest Cases in Civil Rape Trial:
Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump rested their cases Thursday, clearing the way for a federal jury to deliberate next week whether the former president raped the writer in a Manhattan department-store dressing room in the 1990s.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers previously said they wouldn’t call any witnesses in the case, and that the former president wouldn’t testify. On Thursday, after Mr. Trump’s lawyers rested their case, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said that if the former president changed his mind about testifying, he could make a motion to do so before 5 p.m. Sunday.
“If he has second thoughts, I will at least consider it,” Judge Kaplan said. He cited news reports that quoted the former president saying he planned to cut short a trip to Ireland to confront Ms. Carroll.
After closing arguments next week, the nine-member jury then will consider Ms. Carroll’s battery and defamation claims, which were filed in 2022 when a New York law went into effect that gave alleged survivors of long-ago sexual assault one-year opportunity to file lawsuits.
Earlier Thursday, Ms. Carroll’s lawyers played for jurors portions of a 2022 videotaped deposition of Mr. Trump in which he grew heated at times under questioning about women who accused him of sexual assault. He called Ms. Carroll “mentally sick,” saying “she is accusing me of raping her, the worst thing you can do.”
Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for Ms. Carroll, asked him in the deposition why he previously said Ms. Carroll and the other accusers weren’t his type.
“When people accuse me of something, I think I have a right to be insulting,” said Mr. Trump, who lashed out at Ms. Kaplan during the deposition, calling her a disgrace and a political operative.
Carol Martin, a friend of Ms. Carroll, also testified Thursday, recalling how the writer came to her home a day or two after the alleged rape and told her what happened.
“She said, ‘Trump attacked me,’” Ms. Martin, a former journalist, told the jury. She told jurors that at the time she encouraged Ms. Carroll to keep quiet, fearing Mr. Trump and his lawyers would retaliate.
“I thought he would bury her,” she said.
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