Trump Attends Opening of Defamation Trial in New York

Former President Donald Trump speaks to voters during a visit to a caucus site at the Horizon Event Center in Clive, Iowa, on Jan. 15, 2024. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Opening statements were ugly in the defamation case writer E. Jean Carroll brought against former President Donald Trump on Jan. 16, with the plaintiff’s attorneys showing on screen several threatening and obscene emails Ms. Carroll has received from supporters of President Trump, and defense attorneys accusing Ms. Carroll of stirring the pot with “false allegations” as her career was “faltering.”

Alina Habba, representing President Trump, said he is not liable for the online backlash. She argued that Ms. Carroll did not suffer damages from President Trump’s statements, but rather gained the fame and attention she allegedly sought.

Jury selection had taken place earlier on Tuesday with the former president observing, turning around in his chair to watch potential jurors state their age, occupation, and where they got their news.

He otherwise sat forward in his chair, fingers interlaced, watching the judge.

When the judge asked whether any jurors felt President Trump had been treated unfairly by the judicial system, only one juror stood up. The 60-year-old employee of an insurance company ultimately did not make the final cut.

Jury selection was complete at 2 p.m., and after a break the trial resumed with opening statements.

Fresh off a win in Iowa, President Trump had flown back to New York in the small hours, landing early morning ahead of his second civil trial in New York this year.

On Jan. 16, the second of two civil suits brought against him by Mr. Carroll began. Ms. Carroll is now seeking $10 million in the defamation suit after winning $5 million last May in a related case against President Trump.

Last week, at the close of another civil case against President Trump for fraud in Trump Organization financial statements, he told reporters he planned to attend this trial, and as many others as his schedule would permit.

“Yeah, I’m going to go to it, and I’m going to explain I don’t know who the hell she is,” he said.

“I never saw this woman in my life other than I have a picture with her and her husband,” President Trump said. “I have no idea who this woman is. I have absolutely no idea. The whole thing is ridiculous, that this is actually a case.”

The legal drama stems from public allegations Ms. Carroll made in 2019, accusing President Trump of sexually assaulting her at Bergdorf Goodman in New York in the mid-1990s. He publicly denied the allegations, denied knowing Ms. Carroll, and suggested her claim was a publicity stunt to drive book sales.

Defamation Claims

Ms. Carroll sued President Trump for defamation in 2019, and later when New York State passed legislation to allow for sex abuse cases to be brought over a one-year period regardless of the statute of limitations, she brought a second suit accusing him of rape.

A jury found President Trump liable for “sexual battery,” and U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, presiding over both cases, issued a summary judgment that found President Trump liable for defamation as well because the facts were the same in both cases.

President Trump had countersued, but the lawsuit was dismissed. The litigation also influenced an appeals court to deny his motion to dismiss the case based on presidential immunity, noting that he had raised other defenses and countersued rather than immediately raising presidential immunity when the case was brought years ago.

The trial is expected to last throughout the week, only to determine damages President Trump will need to pay, but on Sunday the judge issued an order to allow President Trump to delay his testimony by one week.

E. Jean Carroll arrives for her defamation trial against former President Donald Trump at New York Federal Court in New York City on Jan. 16, 2024. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

“In the event that defendant rests his defense case some time on Thursday, January 18, subject only to Mr. Trump’s testimony, the Court would grant a continuance until Monday, January 22, 2024, for the purpose of hearing that testimony,” Judge Kaplan wrote.

He noted that he would not delay the trial itself, which had been set some seven months ago, as it would cause inconvenience to all the jurors, court staff, and counsel. President Trump is expected to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral later this week, and a campaign event in New Hampshire.

Trump Responds

President Trump took to Truth Social ahead of the trial to defend his case and throw his accuser’s character into question.

“Can you believe I have to defend myself against this woman’s fake story?!” he wrote, accompanying a clip of an awkward exchange between Ms. Carroll and CNN’s Anderson Cooper interviewing her about the allegations.

He posted a series of screenshots of Ms. Carroll’s social media posts and quotes of comments she’s made in the media, which included many questionable statements about sexual assault.

“How do you know your ‘unwanted sexual advance’ is unwanted, until you advance it?” Ms. Carroll wrote in 2015.

President Trump said the “only right, honest, and lawful thing” the judge could do would be to “end this unAmerican injustice being done to a President of the United States.”

He maintained he was “wrongfully accused by a woman he never met, saw, or touched (a photo line does not count!), and knows absolutely nothing about.”

“I have been considered an A-list celebrity for many decades, so even decades ago, since no one know which date or dates to refer to because the accusing woman can’t say the day, month, season, year, or decade, it would have been impossible for me to walk into a crowded department store (surrounded by buildings I own), right opposite the cashier’s checkout desk, without being written about on Page Six, and every other outlet at the time,” he wrote. “Remember, those gossip columnists were, perhaps, even more vicious and obsessed than the Internet of today.”