NEW YORK: Contemporary off a marketing campaign victory in Iowa, Donald Trump sat in a New York courtroom on Tuesday (Jan 16) to defend himself for a second time towards prices that he defamed author E Jean Carroll after she accused him of raping her a long time in the past.
Trump watched from the defendant’s desk as Carroll’s lawyer instructed a jury that the then-US president made her life depressing when she went public in 2019 along with her story that he had attacked her in a division retailer dressing room in Manhattan.
“He used the world’s greatest microphone to assault Ms Carroll, to humiliate her, and to destroy her status,” lawyer Shawn Crowley mentioned.
Carroll, 80, is in search of at the least US$10 million in damages in a civil case that can put the allegations of sexual assault again within the headlines whereas he pursues the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Crowley mentioned Trump’s “horrible” lies unleashed a torrent of abuse from his followers and wrecked her sense of security.
“As he is campaigning for president of the US, Donald Trump continues to lie about Ms. Carroll,” Crowley mentioned.
Jurors will solely contemplate how a lot Trump ought to pay Carroll in damages, not whether or not the alleged assault occurred or whether or not Trump lied about it afterward.
US District Decide Lewis Kaplan mentioned he expects the trial to final three to 5 days.
Trump, 77, has mentioned he needs to testify.
He may spend a lot of this 12 months shuttling between marketing campaign rallies and courtrooms, as he seeks to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
He won the first state contest in Iowa on Monday by a large margin, and opinion polls present him main within the subsequent contest in New Hampshire per week from as we speak.
Trump has pleaded not responsible in 4 prison instances that might probably land him in jail earlier than the November presidential election, together with two that accuse him of attempting to overturn his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He is also a defendant in at the least two different civil instances.
Trump has solid himself because the sufferer of political persecution. On Tuesday, he mentioned Kaplan ought to dismiss the case.
“Decide Kaplan ought to put this complete corrupt, Crooked Joe Biden-directed Election Interference assault on me instantly to relaxation,” he posted on social media. “He ought to do it for America.”
SECOND TRIAL
Trump’s excessive profile was obvious as potential jurors have been screened for the case. Many acknowledged they have been conversant in Trump’s numerous authorized troubles, although none mentioned they knew the main points of the primary defamation trial.
Many mentioned they’d backed Democratic candidates in earlier elections, reflecting the New York Metropolis space’s left-leaning tilt, and one mentioned she had volunteered for Biden’s 2020 marketing campaign.
Two others mentioned they believed Trump’s false claims that the election had been stolen from him. One mentioned she used to work for his daughter Ivanka. They weren’t chosen for the jury.
Jurors’ identities are being saved confidential.
