Donald Trump was threatened with expulsion from his Manhattan civil trial Wednesday after he repeatedly ignored a warning to keep quiet while writer E. Jean Carroll testified that he shattered her reputation after she accused him of sexual abuse.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 11: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media at one of his properties, 40 Wall Street, following closing arguments at his civil fraud trial on January 11, 2024 in New York City. The former president, who is currently the front runner for the Republican nomination, attended the closing arguments for the trial which will now go to the judge for the penalty phase in which New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $370 million in damages and to prohibit Trump from doing business in the state.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told the former president that his right to be present at the trial will be revoked if he remains disruptive. After an initial warning, Carroll's lawyer said Trump could still be heard making remarks to his lawyers, including "it is a witch hunt" and "it really is a con job."
"Mr. Trump, I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial," Kaplan said in an exchange after the jury was excused for lunch, adding: "I understand you're probably eager for me to do that," revealed The Associated Press.
Trump shrugged as he hit back with, "I would love it."
The back and forth went on as Kaplan responded, "I know you would like it. You just can't control yourself in this circumstance, apparently,"
"You can't either," Trump retorted.
The Hill reported earlier in the day, that Trump had made comments insinuating that Carroll was lying about her assault and that she seemed to have "gotten her memory back," according to Carroll's lawyer Shawn Crowley.
What Is The Background?
The article went on to explain that Carroll claims Trump forced himself on her in a luxury department store dressing room after a chance meeting in 1996. After she told the story publicly in a 2019 memoir, he publicly undercut her honesty and motive for coming forward, she says.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, saying he never met her and that nothing happened between them.
A previous trial in the case occurred last May when a jury determined Trump did sexually abuse and defame Carroll but that the columnist had not proven her claim that the former president raped her. Trump did not attend that trial, which ended with Carroll being awarded $5 million in damages.
Trump has consistently used his legal battles to better his standing in the GOP presidential primary. During his months-long fraud trial in New York, the former president made frequent campaign speeches from the courthouse hallways. He butted heads with the judge in that case as well, decrying him as "Trump-hating" and politically biased against him.
Carroll is seeking some $10 million in compensatory damages and millions more in punitive damages.
