Former president Donald Trump gets short shrift from judge at libel trial

The writer alleges that the former president defamed her and ruined her reputation when he denied her allegation that he raped her in the mid-1990s.

Donald Trump departs for his defamation trial in New York. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump tried to deny during a brief appearance on the witness stand in a New York courtroom that he had sexually assaulted the writer E Jean Carroll, but he was stopped by the judge, who ruled the fact that “he did it” had already been established.

Taking the stand in a defamation trial, the former president was asked if he had denied sexually assaulting Carroll after she made the allegation in a magazine article published in 2019.

“That’s exactly right,” he replied. “Yes I did. She said something that I consider a false allegation.”

Judge Lewis Kaplan intervened, ordering that everything that followed the words “yes I did” in his answer should be struck from the record.

Mr Trump, 77, shook his head and stared silently at his lawyer, as he awaited the next question. He was testifying in a case brought by Carroll in 2019, alleging that he defamed her and ruined her reputation when he denied her allegation that he raped her in the mid-1990s.

Carroll also sued Mr Trump for sexual abuse in a civil case that came to court last year and was decided in her favour. Because of this, Judge Kaplan has ruled that “the fact that Mr Trump sexually abused – indeed raped – Ms Carroll has been conclusively established” and the jury in the present case must only decide if Carroll was damaged by his statements, and if so, how much money he owes her. Her lawyers are seeking at least $US10m.

E. Jean Carroll leaves Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump’s lawyers argue that Carroll was not damaged by the allegations, that she enjoyed the attention she received and that the former president’s statements could not be shown to have directly caused the hate mail and threats she received.

Carroll’s lawyers said his recent appearances at a civil fraud trial in which Mr Trump ignored orders from the state judge and called the case a “witch-hunt”, showed he hoped to “sow chaos” and “poison these proceedings”.

On Thursday, however, Mr Trump found himself before a far stricter federal judge, who told him “keep your voice down” after his outbursts from the defence table interrupted legal arguments about what he would be allowed to say.

“This is not America,” he was heard to mutter as he left the courtroom.

Before Mr Trump’s appearance, Peter Navarro, a former aide allegedly involved in the plot to overturn the 2020 election, was sentenced to four months in jail for defying a congressional subpoena. Navarro, 74, ignored a 2022 request to appear before the committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol a year earlier.

He became the second member of Mr Trump’s inner circle, after Steve Bannon, to face being jailed for refusing to co-operate with the committee. Bannon’s four-month sentence was suspended, pending an appeal.

Navarro is also expected to appeal.

The Times