Yesterday, jury selection got underway in the second trial concerning Trump’s defamatory comments made against writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in a 2019 article published in New York Magazine. Trump was already found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in the first trial, resulting in the Judge finding him liable as well for defamation after continuing to make comments that he did not know Carroll and that her accusations against him were lies. Because Trump has already been found liable for assault and defamation, the current trial is limited to damages, where a jury will determine how much money Carroll is entitled to because of Trump’s continued verbal attacks against her. Let’s get into the details.
Background
On May 9, 2023, a New York federal jury found Donald Trump liable for defamation and battery in a civil trial concerning allegations that he assaulted and raped writer E Jean Carroll in a New York City department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. The jury found “Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape, and also found that he defamed Carroll.” In a unanimous decision, the jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after deliberating for less than three hours.
The first trial centered on Carroll’s 2019 published account accusing Trump of assaulting and raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the mid-90s. After she published her story, Carroll alleged that Trump defamed her by claiming he’d never met her and “forcefully denied her accusations.” Trump’s statements were the core of Carroll’s defamation claim, and Carroll had two friends testify to the rape and assault allegations whom she had confided in after it happened. Find more information on the original lawsuit and accompanying documents here.
Current Trial
The current trial got underway yesterday with jury selection. It is limited in scope as the jury will focus on damages only and determine whether they should be awarded to Carroll for the defamatory comments Trump made about her in 2019 while he was still President. For this trial, the Judge has already stated that no new evidence shall be presented on the issue of whether Carroll suffered an assault and reputational harm because a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual assault.
Honorable Lewis Kaplan is the presiding judge. He is a New York federal judge who oversaw the first trial. Carroll’s legal team is seeking $10 million in damages for reputational harm, “as well as other unspecified punitive damages.” In September 2023, Judge Kaplan ruled that Trump was liable for defamation since Carroll proved in the first trial that she was sexually abused under state law. Thus, Trump’s statements “painting Carroll as a liar were defamatory.”
Judge Kaplan is considered to be a no-nonsense judge, ideally situated to handle this defamation suit as he is no stranger to high-profile cases. Notably, he presided over the “trials of disgraced cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, Al Qaeda operatives Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, actor Kevin Spacey, and Prince Andrew.” Donald Trump has indicated to the press that he will be attending this defamation trial and potentially take the stand to testify. However, Carroll’s lawyers have tried to stop this, as Trump is known to give political speeches and not answer questions while on the witness stand –as shown in his other trials. Last Friday, one of Carroll’s lawyers asked the Judge to “ensure that if the former president testifies, that he does not stray beyond the narrow issue in the case.”
An attorney for Carroll, Shawn Crowley, reiterated for the jurors that Trump was already found liable for attacking Carroll during the mid-1990s in a previous trial and that he “has continued to deny the allegations publicly and repeatedly,” even though the jury unanimously determined “the attack happened, based on a preponderance of the evidence.” Crowley explained to the jurors that “the original defamations were done from the White House lawn in 2019 when Trump was in office” and where “[h]e had the biggest microphone on the planet…(and) used it to tear her reputation to shreds…” Carroll’s attorney stated that the jury in the current trial must decide how much money Trump should have to pay to get him to stop his defamatory comments. On Sunday, the Judge made a ruling in which he stated, “the fact that Mr. Trump abused –indeed, raped – Ms. Carroll has been conclusively established and is binding in this case.”
Controversy Surrounding the Second Trial
This defamation case is just one of several lawsuits Trump faces as he continues on the campaign trail for his 2024 run for President. Though the outcome of this trial does not impact his shot at the presidency, it does bring to light the complexities he faces in the courts in the lead-up to November’s presidential election. Trump has already tried to delay and dismiss Carroll’s original lawsuit claiming presidential immunity arguing that he “was acting within the scope of his office when he accused Carroll of making up her rape accusations.”
The DOJ rejected this argument, and the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled “in December that Trump waived his right to the immunity defense by not invoking it when he first responded to Carroll’s original lawsuit.” Trump also tried to countersue Carroll for defamation, claiming she defamed him by stating that he raped her after the jury’s verdict in the first trial. However, Judge Kaplan threw out that countersuit because Trump was found liable for sexual assault in the first trial. Check back with the blog as we follow Trump’s criminal and civil lawsuits to see how they play out in the courts.
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Sources
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/nyregion/trump-e-jean-carroll-defamation-trial.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/16/e-jean-carroll-trump-trial/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-e-jean-carroll-trial-what-to-know/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/nyregion/trump-carroll-defamation-trial.html
https://apnews.com/article/trump-carroll-lawsuit-defamation-trial-aacfe35372690da0e26d0a273046baf2
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-defamation-trial-e-jean-carroll-01-17-24/index.html
https://www.axios.com/2024/01/16/trump-e-jean-carroll-case-defamation-iowa
Music: Disruptor’s Dance by Anka Mason
Blog Narration: Anka Mason
