After a big victory in the Iowa caucus, former President Donald Trump is expected in court Tuesday to face another legal challenge: a trial to determine how much more he owes the writer E. Jean Carroll for denying that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s and accusing her of lying about her claims.
Quick Read
- Following his victory in the Iowa caucus, former President Donald Trump faces a legal challenge on Tuesday in a trial to determine additional damages owed to writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault in the 1990s and defamation.
- Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday morning in a federal court in Manhattan, with opening arguments potentially in the afternoon. This trial represents a second phase of a legal battle Carroll has already won against Trump.
- In May, another jury awarded Carroll $5 million, concluding that Trump sexually abused her in a department store dressing room in 1996 and then defamed her in 2022 by denying the allegations published in her 2019 memoir. However, the jury found that Carroll hadn’t proven Trump raped her.
- This new trial will focus solely on the amount Trump owes for comments made while he was still president, which were not covered in the first trial.
- Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that the new jury need not reevaluate whether Carroll was sexually abused or if Trump’s remarks were defamatory, as these issues were addressed in the first trial.
- Trump plans to attend the trial on Tuesday, though his schedule for the rest of the week is uncertain due to his mother-in-law’s funeral. He has expressed a desire to testify, under strict limitations on the topics he can discuss.
- The trial, expected to last several days, will strictly focus on the compensation owed to Carroll. The judge has prohibited discussions on Carroll’s personal life, suggestions that Trump didn’t abuse her, or implications of Carroll’s motivations.
- Trump is restricted from making arguments inconsistent with the court’s ruling that he lied about sexually assaulting Carroll.
- These restrictions don’t apply outside the courtroom, allowing Trump to continue commenting on social media, which could potentially increase the damages he owes.
- Despite Trump’s request for a trial delay, Judge Kaplan only agreed to allow Trump to testify as late as the following Monday.
- Carroll, 80, is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and additional punitive damages for harm to her career and reputation due to Trump’s public statements.
- Trump, 77, is appealing the findings of the previous jury, maintaining his innocence, and arguing that Carroll’s claims are fabricated for financial and political reasons.
- Despite his legal battles, Trump remains the leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential primaries and views his court appearances as part of his campaign strategy.
The Associated Press has the story:
Trump is set to face a jury over a columnist’s sex abuse, defamation claims
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP) —
After a big victory in the Iowa caucus, former President Donald Trump is expected in court Tuesday to face another legal challenge: a trial to determine how much more he owes the writer E. Jean Carroll for denying that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s and accusing her of lying about her claims.
Jury selection begins Tuesday morning at a federal court in Manhattan. Opening arguments could take place by afternoon in what is essentially a second penalty phase of a legal fight Carroll has already won.
In May, a different jury awarded Carroll $5 million after concluding that Trump sexually abused her in a department store dressing room in spring 1996, then defamed her in 2022 by claiming she made it up after she revealed it publicly in a 2019 memoir. The jury said Carroll hadn’t proven that Trump raped her.
One issue that wasn’t decided in that first trial was how much Trump owed for comments he made about Carroll while he was still president.
Determining that dollar amount will be the new jury’s only job.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled last year that the new jury didn’t need to decide anew whether Carroll was sexually abused or whether Trump’s remarks about her were defamatory since those subjects were covered in the first trial.
Trump is expected to be at the trial Tuesday, though his plans for the rest of the week have become unclear since his mother-in-law’s funeral was scheduled for Thursday. The trial is expected to last several days.
He has said he wants to testify, but if he does there will be strict limits on what he can talk about. He did not attend last year’s trial, saying recently that his lawyer advised against it.
Because the trial is supposed to be focused only on how much Trump owes Carroll, the judge has warned Trump and his lawyers that they cannot say things to jurors that he has said on the campaign trail or elsewhere, like claiming she lied about him to promote her memoir.
Kaplan also banned them from saying anything about Carroll’s “past romantic relationships, sexual disposition, and prior sexual experiences,” from suggesting Trump didn’t sexually abuse Carroll or from implying she was motivated by “a political agenda, financial interests, mental illness, or otherwise.”
They are also banned, the judge said, from advancing any argument inconsistent with the court’s ruling that “Mr. Trump, with actual malice, lied about sexually assaulting Ms. Carroll.”
Those restrictions don’t apply outside of the presence of the jury. That has left Trump free to continue posting on social media about all of the above topics — something he has done repeatedly in recent days — although each fresh denial comes with the possibility of increasing damages he must pay.
Kaplan rejected Trump’s request to delay the trial a week, although he said he would let Trump testify as late as Monday even if the trial is otherwise ready for closing arguments by Thursday.
Carroll, 80, plans to testify about the damage to her career and reputation that resulted from Trump’s public statements. She seeks $10 million in compensatory damages and millions more in punitive damages.
Trump, 77, is appealing the findings of last year’s jury and has continued to maintain that he doesn’t know Carroll, that he never met her at the Bergdorf Goodman store in midtown Manhattan in spring 1996 and that Carroll made up her claims to sell her book and for political reasons.
Regardless of his losses in court, Trump leads all Republicans in 2024 presidential primary polls and plans to spend plenty of time in court fighting the civil cases and four criminal cases against him, saying, “In a way, I guess you consider it part of the campaign.”
