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Former President Trump has been present for round two of the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. As I described here, the judge ruled months ago that this trial would not be a do-over on the question of whether or not Trump sexually abused Carroll more than two decades ago. Instead, the jury would only be deciding how much Trump would have to pay for additional instances of defamation on top of the $5 million he was ordered to pay Carroll in the first trial.
Today, Trump made a show of his disagreement with Carroll’s testimony which led to complaints from her attorneys that Trump’s outbursts could be overheard by the jury.
Trump repeatedly shook his head in anger and made comments to his lawyer throughout Carroll’s testimony. At one point, Kaplan told Trump’s attorney to sit down after denying her objection. Trump slammed the table and commented to his attorney, “nasty guy,” apparently referring to the judge.
During the morning break, Carroll lawyer Shawn Crowley told the judge that Trump had been loudly making comments, saying some statements were “false” and making cracks about Carroll’s memory.
Before the jury returned, Kaplan said, “I’m just going to ask Mr. Trump to take special care to keep his voice down so the jury does not overhear it.”
The request did not take. When the jury broke for lunch, Crowley told the judge that Trump had continued his commentary, and that some jurors could have heard him say “this really is a con job” and “it’s a witch hunt.”
This led to another warning, this time directly to Trump, that he could be ejected from the courtroom unless he controlled himself.
