Fresh off a campaign victory in Iowa, Donald Trump sat in a New York courtroom Tuesday to defend himself for the second time against charges of defaming writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of raping her decades ago. Trump watched from the defendant's table as Carroll's lawyer told the jury that the then president of the United States made her life miserable when she went public in 2019 with her story that he had attacked her in the dressing room of a department store in Manhattan. .
"He used the largest microphone in the world to attack Ms. Carroll, humiliate her and destroy her reputation," said attorney Shawn Crowley. Carroll, 80, is seeking at least $10 million in damages in a civil case that will put sexual assault allegations back in the headlines as he seeks the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Crowley said Trump's "horrible" lies unleashed a torrent of abuse from his supporters and ruined their sense of security. "While campaigning for president of the United States, Donald Trump continues to lie about Ms. Carroll," Crowley said.
Jurors will only consider how much Trump should pay Carroll in damages, not whether the alleged assault took place or whether Trump lied about it afterward. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said he expects the trial to last three to five days.
Trump, 77, has said he wants to testify. He could spend much of this year shuttling between campaign rallies and courtrooms as he seeks to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
He won the first statewide race in Iowa on Monday by a wide margin, and opinion polls show him in the lead in the next race in New Hampshire a week from now.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in four criminal cases that could land him in prison before November's presidential election, including two that accuse him of trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He is also a defendant in at least two other civil cases. Trump has presented himself as a victim of political persecution. On Tuesday he said Kaplan should dismiss the case.
"Judge Kaplan should immediately put an end to this entire corrupt and corrupt election interference attack directed at me by Joe Biden," he posted on social media. "I should do it for America." SECOND TRIAL
Trump's high profile was evident when potential jurors were selected for the case. Many acknowledged being familiar with Trump's various legal problems, although none said they knew the details of the first defamation trial. Many said they had endorsed Democratic candidates in previous elections, reflecting the New York City area's leftist lean, and one said she had volunteered for Biden's 2020 campaign.
Two others said they believed Trump's false claims that the election had been stolen from him. One said he used to work for his daughter Ivanka. They were not chosen for the jury. The identities of the jurors are kept confidential.
Trump already lost a defamation case against Carroll. Last May, a jury ordered Trump to pay the former Elle magazine columnist $5 million for having sexually abused her during the meeting, and for defaming her in 2022 by denying that it had happened. Trump skipped that trial.
Kaplan, who oversaw both cases, has barred Trump from arguing that he did not defame or sexually assault Carroll or that she fabricated her story. In both cases, Trump has said that he did not know Carroll and that she made up her meeting to sell her memoirs.
Trump is appealing the $5 million award and could appeal any award in the second trial. Appeals could take years. NEW ATTACKS
In recent weeks, Trump has escalated his attacks on Carroll, including a false accusation on social media this weekend that she did not know the decade of their meeting. He also called Kaplan "terrible, biased, irrationally angry," echoing attacks he has launched at judges overseeing some of his other cases.
Trump may face an uphill fight to avoid significant additional damages due to Kaplan's pretrial rulings. These include prohibiting Trump from suggesting that he did not rape Carroll, as New York criminal law defines the term, because the first jury did not find that Trump committed rape.
Kaplan ruled that because Trump used his fingers in the attack, Carroll's rape claim was "substantially true." Trump also cannot discuss DNA evidence or Carroll's sexual activities, or suggest that Democrats are funding his case. Carroll is a Democrat.
And as in the first trial, jurors will be able to watch the 2005 "Access Hollywood" video in which Trump graphically describes the ability of famous people like him to have sex with beautiful women. Trump did not retract his comments when he was asked about them in a 2022 deposition. Kaplan has said the video could offer "useful insight into Mr. Trump's mental state" toward Carroll.
Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, assured Kaplan on Sunday that she was "well aware" of the court's rulings "and the strict limits placed on her testimony."
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
