Against the backdrop of rape allegations in the 1990s, former US President Donald Trump on Friday wrote to writer E. A libel trial against him in New York by Jean Carroll was abruptly abandoned. As lawyers for both sides began their closing arguments, the rowdy businessman abruptly withdrew. got up from his chair and jumped out of the courtroom of the federal civil court in Manhattan, according to an AFP reporter. However, he remained on the court grounds.
Judge Louis Kaplan could only note that “Mr. Trump just got up and walked out of the room.” Plaintiff E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, (no relation to the judge), said only that the former president “continued throughout the trial to discredit” her client.
At the end of the morning, Mr. Trump once again posted about twenty messages on his Truth social platform accusing Ms. Carroll of putting together “a false Monica Lewinsky story” — the so-called White House intern scandal. President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s – and sought to “extort.”
“A Witch Hunt”
Donald Trump, the heavy favorite in the Republican primaries and Joe Biden’s likely opponent in the presidential election in November, added his usual political slurs on Truth Social: “Joe Biden is corrupt and crooked” and will go on a witch hunt against his political opponent. , managed and led by radical left-wing Democrats.
The trial, which began on January 16th, ends with closing arguments from the lawyers, but there is no indication that the jury will decide immediately. They will have to determine whether Mr. Trump, 77, is liable for defamation against Ms. Carroll, 80, who is seeking at least ten million dollars in damages for moral and professional damages. E. Jean Carroll is a former columnist for the American edition of Elle magazine who accused Donald Trump of raping her in the fitting room of a New York department store in 1996.
Six criminal or civil trials for Trump
Last May, the same court, seized by another complaint by Ms. Carroll, civilly fined the mogul five million dollars for sexual assault 28 years ago and defamatory comments made against her in 2022. On Thursday, the former president briefly defended himself. Even during the trial itself, his freedom of speech was strictly limited by the judge so that no verbal slips occurred.
video. “Even if you come to vote and you die, it’s worth it,” Trump says at the start of the Republican primaries in the United States.
He only indicated with a “yes” that he had made the comments targeted by the first complaint in 2019 against the rape allegations, which E. The book was first publicly launched by Jean Carroll. “She said something that I thought was wrong,” Mr. Trump said. But again on Wednesday evening, he launched written attacks on Truth Social 37 against Ms. Carroll, whom he continues to defame and insult by calling her a “crazy” and calling her a “false story” that he never saw in “(her).” Life.” “He’s sick,” he repeated during the procedure.
Judge Caplan, who presided over the first trial in May 2023, ordered that the second focus only on Donald Trump’s comments and not on the rape accuser’s allegations. Including this case, Mr. Trump has been the subject of six criminal or civil trials this year.
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