Jan. 16 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump was in court Tuesday at the opening of his federal civil trial that will determine the amount of damages he will pay after a judge found he defamed author E. Jean Carroll.
But the former president left before opening statements as his attorney accused Carroll of seeking a “windfall” over “mean tweets.”
Carroll’s attorney Shawn Crowley started off opening statements Tuesday afternoon by reminding jurors that “Donald Trump sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll” and then “unleashed his followers.”
“That fact has been proven and a jury sitting in the exact seats where you’re sitting now found that it happened,” Crowley said.
“He didn’t just deny the assault, he went much, much further,” she said. “He accused her of lying and making up a story to make money and to advance some political conspiracy against him and he threatened her.”
Trump “unleashed his followers to go after her,” Crowley added, saying he “continues to lie about Ms. Carroll.”
Carroll, who is expected to testify Wednesday, is seeking more than $10 million in damages. Crowley urged the jury to award a “very significant” amount because Trump’s attacks on his client have “destroyed her sense of safety.”
“Much of that was ruined when Donald Trump went after her,” Crowley added. “She’s afraid. She’s afraid that someday somebody’s going to make good on their threats.”
Trump attorney Alina Habba countered Tuesday, saying Carroll’s career has prospered since the sexual assault allegations, and argued that Carroll is simply trying to seek a “windfall” over “mean tweets.”
“The other side will attempt to paint Ms. Carroll as someone who lost everything because President Trump stood up and defended himself when he was publicly accused of assault,” Habba said.
“Her career has prospered, and she has been thrust back into the limelight like she always has wanted,” Habba added. “This case is not about assault. We had that case. This case is about the defamation.”
“Here she is looking for you to give her a windfall because some people on social media said mean things about her,” Habba told jurors. “But in today’s day and age, the Internet always has something to say, and it’s not always going to be nice. Imagine if every time a public person got a mean tweet, they could get money.”
Trump, who attended the hearing in the morning, left the courthouse after a break for lunch and did not return before opening statements. He was scheduled to fly to New Hampshire for a campaign appearance Tuesday evening ahead of the state’s Jan. 23 primary.
The jury of nine was selected in the courtroom in Manhattan early Tuesday afternoon. There will be no alternate jurors.
Before being selected, the jurors were asked if they could come to a fair and unbiased decision and asked about their political preferences. Two of the people struck from the jury said they believe the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump, and another who said he believed Trump is being treated unfairly by the court system.
Trump, who appeared at the hearing Tuesday morning, had traveled from Des Moines, Iowa, to New York City, following his victory in the first ballot of 2024.
Earlier in the day, Trump had been expected to testify despite a motion filed by Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan, expressing concerns that the former president would try to “sow chaos” during the trial, and calling for strict rules aimed at controlling Trump’s behavior.
“If Mr. Trump appears at this trial, whether as a witness or otherwise, his recent statements and behavior strongly suggest that he will seek to sow chaos,” she wrote in the filing. “Indeed, he may well perceive a benefit in seeking to poison these proceedings.”
In light of the filing, U.S. Judge Lewis Kaplan said he would consider delaying Trump’s testimony until the end of the trial, which would put the former president on the stand around Jan. 22.
In another ruling, Kaplan denied Trump’s petition to delay the trial by a week to allow him to attend the funeral of Amalija Knavs, the mother of former first lady Melania Trump, who died a week ago on Jan. 9.
However, Kaplan pointed out that Trump was allowed to attend the funeral without facing any further penalties from the court.
“The Court offers its condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Trump and the rest of Ms. Knavs’ family,” Kaplan wrote. “Mr. Trump is free to attend the trial, the funeral, or all or parts of both, as he wishes.”
On Tuesday, Habba pressed the issue, asking that only Thursday’s trial date be adjourned. Kaplan reiterated that the issue had been ruled on.
Previously, Kaplan restricted the scope of arguments that Trump and his legal team can present during the trial.
The federal civil case is being heard in the U.S. Southern District of New York, where Carroll is seeking an additional $10 million from Trump after a jury found Trump sexually abused the magazine columnist in a Manhattan department store dressing room three decades ago.
As part of the civil verdict in May, Carroll was awarded $5 million, while Trump was also found liable for defaming Carroll in a 2022 Truth Social post, in which Trump labeled the allegations “a Hoax” before declaring, “This woman is not my type!”
Following the sensational trial, Carroll’s legal team filed an amended complaint under her original defamation suit after Trump appeared on a CNN town hall on May 10 — one day after the verdict — claiming not to know Carroll and calling her a “whack job.”
At the time, Judge Kaplan ruled to allow Carroll to revise the original lawsuit to include Trump’s latest public comments about her.
Carroll’s amended complaint noted that “Trump used a national platform to demean and mock Carroll. He egged on a laughing audience as he made light of his violent sexual assault, called Carroll names, implied that Carroll was asking to be assaulted, and dismissed the jury’s verdict vindicating Carroll.”
After reviewing Carroll’s complaint, Kaplan issued a summary judgment against Trump in September that found the former president acted with actual malice when he made the remarks about Carroll at the town hall.
In December, a federal appeals court denied Trump’s request to delay the civil trial for 90 days on immunity grounds, noting the former president did not claim presidential immunity until January 2023, despite Carroll suing Trump for defamation four years earlier, in 2019.
Trump also faces federal criminal trial this spring after being indicted for his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He also faces a similar case in Georgia after he was indicted with 19 co-defendants in connection with a conspiracy to subvert the state results.
Additionally, Trump was hit with a federal indictment in Florida last summer on 37 counts for his alleged mishandling of classified documents that were found at his Mar-a-Lago resort after leaving office.
Also, Trump is scheduled to go on trial to face 34 felony charges related to a hush-money scheme involving former adult film star Stormy Daniels.
