Hours after Donald Trump fired off dozens of Truth Social posts attacking E Jean Carroll, he took the witness stand at a hearing to determine how much he owes her for defamation.
Arriving in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, the former president described the case against him as “a witch hunt designed and financed by political operatives” before labeling the underlying defamation allegations against him as “false” while on the witness stand. He revived the unfounded conspiracy theory that the lawsuits and criminal complaints against him were “election interference” aimed at preventing his second presidency.
In a series of late-night posts, he called the case a “hoax” and repeated potentially defamatory statements about Ms. Carroll that had previously been used against him. Once in court, his account declared himself “innocent” and shared poll numbers and positive coverage of his campaign, as well as an all-caps statement seeking immunity from prosecution in an unrelated case.
A New York City jury in the civil case will determine monetary damages owed to Ms. Carroll, a former attorney. by hand The magazine writer whom Mr. Trump has repeatedly denigrated by claiming he had never met her, labeling her a liar and denying that he had sexually assaulted her. A jury last year found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and Ms. Carroll sought an additional $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages for additional damages.
The facts of the case have already been established and Mr. Trump is barred from contesting that he sexually harassed her, leaving a trial focused solely on damages owed.
Before he was called to the witness stand, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan told the former president’s attorney, Alina Habba, that he could only ask whether he had stood by his previous testimony and whether he had directed anyone to harm Ms. Carroll.
With the jury out of the chamber and the judge and lawyers debating what she might actually say, Mr. Trump interrupted Ms. Habba to reiterate that he had never met Ms. Carroll and did not know her. The judge told him to keep his voice low.
And in an extraordinarily short exchange that took place after just three questions from his lawyer, Mr. Trump said he stood by his earlier statement “100 percent.”
“Yes, I did,” he said. “He said what I thought was a false accusation; completely false.”
Judge Kaplan interrupted Mr. Trump. “Everything after ‘Yes I did’ was a disaster,” he said.
Asked by Ms. Habba whether she had directed anyone to harm Ms. Carroll, Mr. Trump said: “No, I just wanted to defend myself, my family and, frankly, the presidency.”
Under brief cross-examination from Ms. Carroll’s lawyers, Mr. Trump confirmed that he already had a defamation lawsuit against him. His lawyer asked him if he had followed his lawyer’s advice in this case. Mr. Trump said he did this.
Judge Kaplan then adjourned the hearing. Closing arguments will begin Friday.
Mr. Trump, who has relied on a growing list of legal fights to benefit his campaign, argued with the judge in court last week and issued a warning that he could be removed from the courtroom. At a press conference, he claimed that he was the one who should be “paid” for his involvement in the case.
The trial resumed on Thursday after Judge Kaplan postponed the trial for two days after jurors and Mr. Trump’s lawyer were potentially exposed to Covid-19.
Before their case was heard on Thursday, Ms. Carroll’s lawyers played videos of Mr. Trump’s previously recorded testimony; Meanwhile, Trump called the lawsuit a “scam” against him and called Ms. Carroll a “liar” and a “sick person.”
Ms Carroll’s lawyers also showed the court a clip from the footage in which Ms Carroll repeated her claim to the far-right media network NewsMax last week that she had never met the woman who sued her.
Judge Kaplan also rejected another attempt by Ms. Habba to throw out the case after he had previously rejected Ms. Habba’s request for a mistrial based on witness testimony that Ms. Carroll deleted threatening messages sent to her after accusing Mr. Trump of rape. Judge Kaplan said he didn’t have to hide them.
While questioning Ms Carroll’s friend Carol Martin, a former news anchor, in the witness box, Ms Habba sought to rebut Ms Carroll’s claims that her safety was at risk.
Last year, in her first defamation trial, Ms. Martin testified that Ms. Carroll had confided in her immediately after Mr. Trump allegedly assaulted her in the mid-1990s. The pair were working for the same cable network when the “frantic” and “anxious” Ms. Carroll repeatedly told Ms. Martin that Mr. Trump had “pinned” and “attacked” her at the Bergdorf Goodman store.
Ms. Martin testified that he told her not to tell anyone, “because it was Donald Trump and he had a lot of lawyers and I thought he was going to bury him,” she said.
Ms Martin said on Thursday: “I’m a big consumer of news and follow everything I can and the climate in the country feels dangerous to me.”
Ariana Baio contributed to reporting from the Daniel Patrick Moynihan federal courthouse