Former President Trump took the stand Thursday in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against him — brief as it was.
Carroll is seeking at least $10 million in compensatory damages for “injury to her reputation, humiliation and mental anguish in her public and private life,” NBC News reported. She also seeks an unspecified amount in punitive damages to “punish Trump for acting maliciously and to deter Trump and others” from continuing to defame her.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan set strict limits on what Trump could say on the stand, saying the previous civil trial won by Carroll would not be “relitigated.”
“There was a trial last year regarding the truth or falsity to Ms. Carroll’s claim that Mr. Trump sexually assaulted her,” Kaplan said before the jury was brought in. “The jury unanimously concluded that he sexually assaulted her and his claim that he did not was false and defamatory. There are no do-overs.”
The 2024 GOP frontrunner has vehemently denied the allegation, with his denial resulting in Carroll filing a second defamation lawsuit, claiming that his response caused harm to her reputation, Fox News reported.
Trump was only asked three questions by the defense – more from Fox News:
First, Trump was asked whether he saw his deposition played in court, to which he replied: “Yes.”
ADVERTISEMENTSecond, he was asked if he stands by his statements in the deposition, to which he replied: “100 percent. Yes.”
And third, he was asked if he ever threatened Carroll in his tweets and social media posts.
“No,” Trump said. “I was only defending myself from what I believe was a false allegation.”
The judge ordered everything after the word “no” stricken.
“This is not America,” Trump said repeatedly on the way out of the courtroom, according to the network.
Carroll claimed that nearly thirty years ago, in 1996, Trump raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store across from Trump Tower
Trump has repeatedly denied the accusation, insisting that he has “absolutely no idea who this woman is.”
A NYC jury decided last year that Trump was not liable for rape but was liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and he was ordered to pay his accuser $5 million.
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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