January 26 (ozi news desk):
Donald Trump’s testimony in the defamation case brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll came to an abrupt end. The former US president reiterated his earlier statement that Carroll’s accusation of rape was a fabrication. In federal court in Manhattan, Trump confidently affirmed the accuracy of his comments made during a deposition in October 2022. Prior to this, Carroll’s legal team presented video excerpts from the deposition, showcasing Trump’s derogatory remarks towards the former Elle magazine advice columnist, labeling her as “mentally sick” and a “whack job,” and even threatening to sue her.
In the deposition, Trump vehemently denied the allegations, asserting that they were completely baseless and would never occur in reality.
Carroll, who is 80 years old, is pursuing a minimum of $10 million in damages from Trump for his denials in June 2019, during his presidency, regarding her claim that he raped her in the mid-1990s within a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. In response, Trump, who is 77 years old, accused Carroll of fabricating the rape allegation as a means to enhance the sales of her memoir. In a separate case last May, a jury ruled in favor of Carroll and ordered Trump to pay her $5 million for a similar denial made in October 2022. However, Trump is currently appealing this decision.
In the courtroom, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan made it clear that there would be no second chances for dissatisfied litigants, limiting former President Trump’s time on the witness stand to a mere four minutes. Judge Kaplan, who presided over both trials, firmly stated that the initial jury’s verdict, which found Trump guilty of defamation and sexual abuse against Carroll, would remain binding in the ongoing trial. Interestingly, Carroll’s case has now become intertwined with Trump’s efforts to regain the presidency in the upcoming November election.
