E Jean Carroll’s defamation trial against Donald Trump resumed, with the ex-president’s lawyer attempting to discredit her by focusing on her social media posts and Trump’s disruptive behavior during the trial.
The trial addresses financial penalties against Trump over his denials of her rape allegation.
Carroll’s direct testimony detailed the impact of Trump’s denials on her reputation and the subsequent online hate and threats she received.
“Did you ever post any tweets that could be considered sexually explicit?” attorney Alina Habba asked.
“Ms Carroll, what does this say: ‘What CAN be done about the penis? It gets large when you want it small, and stays small when you want it large,’” Habba pressed regarding Carroll’s previous post. “Those were your words, correct?”
“Yes,” Carroll said.
“And you posted them on a public social media account?”
“Yes.”
“And you left that on your Twitter account as we stand here today, correct?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a philosophical question,” Carroll added when asked to explain.
“Sometimes a woman doesn’t feel like making love and the man wants to,” Carroll said.
“You discussed penises?” Habba said.
“Yes,” Carroll answered.
“I’m here because Donald Trump assaulted me, and when I wrote about it, he said it never happened,” Carroll said. “He lied, and it shattered my reputation.”
“Mr Trump has been sitting at the back table and has been loudly saying things throughout Ms Carroll’s testimony,” Carroll’s attorney Shawn Crowley said.
“It’s loud enough for us to hear it,” Crowley said, so “I imagine it’s loud enough for the jury to hear it.”
“I’m just going to ask Mr Trump to take special care to keep his voice down when conferring with counsel, so that the jury does not overhear,” Kaplan said prior to the hearing.
“The defendant has been making statements again [that] we can hear at counsel table,” Crowley said at one point.
“He said it is a ‘witch-hunt’, it really is a con-job.”
“Mr Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited, and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me, and if he disregards court orders,” Kaplan said.
“Mr Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial … I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that.”
“I would love it, I would love it,” Trump said.
“I know you would, you just can’t control yourself in this circumstance, apparently,” Kaplan said.
One marketing professor’s testimony aimed to quantify the reputational harm Carroll endured due to Trump’s statements.
“The thing that really got me about this was, from the White House, he asked if anyone had any information about me, and if they did, to please come forward as soon as possible, because he wanted the world to know what’s really going on – and that people like me should pay dearly,” Carroll said.
The trial also included cross-examination attempts to suggest that Carroll hadn’t suffered because of Trump’s comments.
“Wouldn’t you agree that negative tweets are not necessarily tied to President Trump’s statements, Ms Carroll?” Habba asked.
“Some negative tweets are definitely tied to the president’s statement,” Carroll said.
“And why do you think that?” Habba pressed.
“Because they follow President Trump and they want to emulate him,” Carroll answered.
“So, your reputation in many ways is better today isn’t it Ms Carroll?” Habba said.
“No, my status was lowered. I’m partaking in this trial to bring my old reputation and status back,” Carroll said.
“So, you sued Donald Trump to bring your old reputation back?” Habba asked.
“Yeah,” Carroll answered.
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