Attorney for former US President Alina Habba examines E. Jean Carroll before Judge Lewis Kaplan during the second civil trial where Carroll accused Trump of raping her decades ago, in Manhattan Federal Court in New York , USA, January 18, 2024. courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
A federal judge on Thursday quickly lost patience with Donald Trump’s lawyer as she cross-examined E. Jean Carroll about her income and social media history as part of the former president’s defamation trial.
“Come on, this is Evidence 101!” said the judge, Lewis Kaplan, in response to defense attorney Alina Habba’s questions about how much money Carroll currently makes.
Kaplan also said Haba was “repetitive” in reciting a long list of posts on X, formerly Twitter, attacking Carroll in 2019, shortly after she first publicly accused Trump of raping her decades earlier.
The trial in Manhattan federal court is being held to determine damages Carroll owes Trump for defamatory statements he made after the rape allegation aired.
Carroll also denied Habba’s suggestion that her position and reputation may have improved in recent years. The author and columnist said she sued Trump to get her old reputation back.
An expert witness for Carroll testified later Thursday that restoring her reputation would cost up to $12.1 million.
Kaplan’s impatience with Haba’s cross-examination came a day after Trump clashed with the judge in open court.
E. Jean Carroll enters Manhattan Federal Court in her second civil trial after accusing former US President Donald Trump of raping her decades ago, in New York, US, 18 January 2024.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Trump was absent from the courtroom for the second day of Carroll’s testimony. Instead, he was in Palm Beach, Florida, to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law, Amalia Knaves.
Kaplan had previously rejected a request by Trump’s lawyer to delay the trial for a week so that Trump could attend the funeral without missing a day of testimony.
On Wednesday, Kaplan warned Trump that he could be kicked out of the courtroom for making “disruptive” outbursts during Carroll’s testimony.
Trump, 77, waved his hands in the air and replied, “I’d love to.”
The judge replied, “I know you would. You just can’t control yourself under the circumstances, obviously.”
The tense exchange came after a lawyer for Carroll complained that Trump’s comments, including calling the trial a “witch hunt” and a “fraud,” could be heard by jurors.
Carroll, 80, had testified in Trump’s presence that he raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s and then defamed her after he responded with the accusation in 2019, when he was president.
E. Jean Carroll is examined by former US President’s lawyer Alina Habba during the second civil trial where Carroll accused Trump of raping her decades ago, in Manhattan Federal Court in New York, US, 18 January 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
He testified that his lies “shattered my reputation.”
“Having the president of the United States, one of the most powerful people on earth, call me a liar for three days and say I’m a liar 26 times — I counted them — ended the world I was living in. Carroll said Wednesday.
He was removed from the witness stand Thursday morning. Her lawyers then called Northwestern University communications professor Ashlee Humphreys, who was hired as a legal expert to assess how much Trump’s statements about Carroll’s rape claim had damaged her reputation.
Humphreys testified that Carroll’s reputation as a journalist suffered “severe” damage after Trump’s remarks.
The expert placed the total cost of repairing Carroll’s reputation at between $7.2 million and $12.1 million.
Under cross-examination by Trump’s lawyer, Humphrey said she was paid $500,000 for her work on the case, at a rate of $500 an hour. It is not uncommon for expert witnesses to be paid for their expertise in legal matters.
The lawsuit is the second to center on Carroll’s allegations of assault and defamation by Trump.
A jury last year in a separate but closely related civil trial found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation and ordered him to pay Carroll $5 million. Trump is appealing that verdict.
Ahead of the current trial, Kaplan ruled that Carroll’s defamation claims against Trump had already been proven and that the trial would focus solely on deciding the amount due in damages.
Carroll’s attorneys are seeking at least $10 million in damages in this case.
The former president, who faces dozens of criminal charges in four different courts in addition to numerous civil cases, has turned his legal wrangling into a key feature of his 2024 presidential campaign. He is currently the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination.
After leaving court Wednesday, Trump headed to New Hampshire for a campaign event. He hopes to sweep the Granite State GOP primary next week, repeating his landslide victory in the Iowa caucus on Monday.
This is developing news. Check back for updates.