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Trump investigations


DONALD TRUMP GROWS AGITATED AS E. JEAN CARROLL TESTIFIES AT DEFAMATION DAMAGES
TRIAL

Trump complained repeatedly to his lawyers during Carroll's testimony, leading
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to ask him "to keep his voice down so the jury
does not overhear it.”


E. Jean Carroll arrives at federal court in New York on Wednesday morning.Angela
Weiss / AFP - Getty Images
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Jan. 17, 2024, 6:00 AM EST / Updated Jan. 17, 2024, 12:34 PM EST
By Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian

E. Jean Carroll took the witness stand Wednesday in her damages trial in New
York federal court against Donald Trump, with the writer testifying in front of
the visibly agitated former president, who was found liable for sexually abusing
and defaming her.

"I am here because Donald Trump assaulted me, and when I wrote about it he lied
and he shattered my reputation," Carroll, 80, told the jury.




Trump seemed upset at times during her testimony, shaking his head in anger and
making comments to his lawyer while Carroll was talking. At one point, after
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan told Trump's attorney to sit down after making
an 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.”

When Carroll first took the stand in the morning she walked past Trump, who is
sitting at the defense table, as he looked in a different direction. She
testified that Trump has repeatedly told lies about her since 2019, when she
first came forward with allegations that he sexually assaulted her in a dressing
room in a Manhattan department store in 1996.



She said she'd "expected him to respond" to her allegation when she first went
public.

"I thought he was going to deny it and say it was consensual, which it was not,"
Carroll said. Instead, Trump said, "I have never met this woman in my life," she
said, adding, "That is a lie."

"He said I made it up to sell a book, and that is a lie," and "said my false
accusations damaged the real victims of assault, and that is a lie," Carroll
said. She said the then-president declared "people need to pay dearly," and "I
have paid as dearly as possible." 

Trump's statements "ended the world I had been living in," Carroll said, adding
that she found herself the target of hateful attacks from his supporters across
Twitter and other social media. "It happened instantaneously," she said, with
many of her attackers using Trump's words.



"It was so unexpected," she said, and the "messages have never stopped."


RECOMMENDED


TRUMP INVESTIGATIONSLIVE UPDATES: TRUMP FUMES AS E. JEAN CARROLL TESTIFIES IN
DEFAMATION TRIAL

"I receive them all the time, sometimes hundreds a day," she added. The jury was
shown several of the threats she received, many with graphic threats of
violence.

"I want my reputation back," Carroll told the jury.

Carroll is expected to answer questions from her lawyers for two hours before
being cross-examined by Trump's attorneys.



In opening statements Tuesday, Carroll attorney Shawn Crowley told the jury that
her client “will tell you that there has not been a day that’s gone by since
Donald Trump first defamed her that she has not been afraid. She’ll tell you
how, in some ways, it’s actually changed the way she has lived her life."

Trump “didn’t just deny the assault” when Carroll broke her silence in a 2019
book — “he went much, much further," Crowley said. "He said he had no idea who
she was. 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. He said
she should pay dearly for speaking out against him."

"Donald Trump was president when he made those statements, and he used the
world's biggest microphone to attack Ms. Carroll, to humiliate her and to
destroy her reputation," she said.

Trump, 77, was found liable last year for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming
her after he left the White House in a separate civil trial and was hit with a
$5 million verdict, which he's appealing. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan used
that verdict to find Trump liable for the remarks he made while he was
president, as well, so the jury in the current case will be deciding only what
amount of damages to award her.



Crowley told the jurors that Trump had continued his attacks since the last
verdict, including posting comments to his Truth Social platform while he was in
court Tuesday.

"He sat in this courthouse this morning. And while he was sitting there, he
posted more defamatory statements, more lies about Ms. Carroll and this case. By
our count, by our last count, 22 posts just today. Think about that. Think about
that when you consider how much money will it take to get him to stop," she
said.

Fresh off his victory in the Iowa caucuses Monday, Trump had been in court for
jury selection Tuesday but left before opening statements to attend a campaign
rally in New Hampshire. The juxtaposition of his subdued courtroom appearances
and his boisterous campaign events is a harbinger of his year ahead. In addition
to the Carroll trial, he also faces four criminal trials and a verdict in a
civil fraud trial that could devastate his real estate business while he seeks
another term in the White House.

He has denied attacking Carroll and maintains the case is “fiction.”



His attorney Alina Habba told the jury Tuesday that Trump's legal team will show
Carroll shouldn't get any damages because the "evidence will show that Ms.
Carroll's reputation was not harmed by President Trump's statements. In fact,
it's the exact opposite. She has gained more fame, more notoriety than she could
ever have dreamed of."

"She is looking for you to give her a windfall because some people on social
media said mean things about her. But in today's day and age, the internet
always has something to say, and it's not always going to be nice," Habba added.

Adam Reiss

Adam Reiss is a reporter and producer for NBC and MSNBC.

Dareh Gregorian

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.

CONTINUE READING




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