The trial in writer E. Jean Carroll’s latest civil case against Donald Trump resumes later, with the prospect that the former US president may for the first time testify in open court in the defamation case.
A nine-person jury is hearing evidence to determine how much Mr Trump should pay Ms Carroll for defaming her in June 2019, when he denied raping her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.
Donald Trump, 77, has consistently denied that anything happened, and accused Ms Carroll, 80, of making up the incident to boost sales of her then-new memoir.
A different jury last May ordered Mr Trump to pay her $5m over his similar October 2022 denial. He is appealing that verdict.
The trial is before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, who oversaw the earlier trial.
If he testifies, Mr Trump will be forbidden from challengingJudge Kaplan’s rulings that he defamed and sexually abused Ms Carroll, which the judge said the first trial established.
The only issue is how much money Donald Trump must pay her, if any.
Lawyers for Ms Carroll argued this month that Mr Trump’s recent behaviour strongly suggested he might try to “sow chaos” if he testified, and might believe that doing so would help him.
Judge Kaplan made a similar point on the trial’s second day, after a lawyer for Ms Carroll told him that jurors might have overheard Donald Trump loudly proclaim the trial a “witch hunt” and “con job.”
The judge warned Mr Trump he might be ejected if it happened again.
“I would love it,” Donald Trump said.
“I know you would,” the judge replied.
The former US president has used his legal travails to promote his 2024 White House run, calling the cases part of a political vendetta and an abuse of the judicial system.
Last week, Mr Trump shuttled between the Ms Carroll trial and campaign events in New Hampshire, which holds its first-in-the-nation presidential primary tomorrow.
The latest polling shows Mr Trump widening his lead in New Hampshire.
He has separately pleaded not guilty in four federal and state criminal cases, including two claiming he tried illegally to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Ms Carroll has already testified. She said Mr Trump’s denials destroyed her reputation as a truth-telling journalist, with many now branding her a liar with her own political agenda.
Donald Trump’s legal team has accused her of seeking fame and adulation by coming forward while becoming an advocate for women.
Alina Habba, one of Mr Trump’s lawyers, in a letter on Friday said that behaviour conflicted with Ms Carroll’s “affirmative, non-waivable duty” to lessen the harm from the defamation.
Ms Carroll testified that she enjoyed the “warmth” from supporters, but had not sought fame.
Joshua Matz, one of her lawyers, in a letter yesterday called it “offensive” for Donald Trump to persist in asserting that Ms Carroll should be “grateful to him” for defaming her.
A Northwestern University professor testified for Ms Carroll that it would cost $7.3m to $12.1m to repair Mr Trump’s damage to Ms Carroll’s reputation.
Others who may also testify include former Elle editor-in-chief Robbie Myers and former New York TV news anchor Carol Martin, a friend of Ms Carroll’s.
The case could go to the jury by mid-week.
