\n<\/p>\n
Donald Trump had a tantrum.<\/p>\n
Trump was seated at the defense table in Manhattan federal court on 17 January 2024 when E Jean Carroll \u2013 who has said that he sexually assaulted her at a swank New York City department store some three decades prior \u2013 confronted him for the first time in a courtroom.<\/p>\n
As Carroll said he \u201cassaulted me\u201d, the slightly hunched Trump allegedly grumbled that her claims were false and \u201cshe now seems to have gotten her memory back\u201d. Trump, who has repeatedly denied the allegations and all claims of wrongdoing, was spotted whispering to lead lawyer Alina Habba during Carroll\u2019s testimony, \u201cloudly saying things throughout Ms Carroll\u2019s testimony\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s loud enough for us to hear it,\u201d Shawn Crowley, Carroll\u2019s attorney, said during a morning break. \u201cI imagine it\u2019s loud enough for the jury to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump, already saddled with a $5m civil verdict from the writer\u2019s successful sexual abuse and defamation trial one year prior, didn\u2019t seem to get anywhere with his outbursts: Carroll was awarded $83.3m at this second trial against him.<\/p>\n
But now, as Trump continues to fight the combined $88.8m in verdicts without success, his justice department is reportedly investigating a non-profit that helped fund Carroll\u2019s litigation \u2013 which numerous commentators believe marks another example of retaliation against the president\u2019s opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre we surprised?\u201d said Brittany Martinez, a Republican strategist and the executive director of Principles First. \u201cIt sort of feels like it\u2019s just another day on the admin\u2019s retribution tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like he\u2019s accustomed to things going his way and when they don\u2019t, especially in such a public forum, I think that really resonates with him,\u201d Martinez said later. \u201cIt\u2019s something that he held on to and waited until the time was right. I don\u2019t think he likes people getting one up on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president is on his revenge tour, and the Department of Justice is doing his bidding,\u201d said Neama Rahmani, founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers and a former federal prosector. \u201cHe is using the acting attorney general specifically to go after his political enemies, and probably one of the biggest ones right now is Jean Carroll.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s really the only one who has successfully litigated against him, and obviously she has, I believe, a combined $88m judgment that is accruing interest right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The non-profit that helped Carroll\u2019s litigation efforts, America Future Republic, is backed by a longtime Trump foe and Democratic megadonor, Reid Hoffman, a LinkedIn co-founder. A source told the Guardian that this investigation involves possible money-laundering conspiracy and obstruction. Chicago federal prosecutors, who are handling the inquiry, rejected reports that they are investigating Carroll.<\/p>\n
Ron Kuby, a veteran defense attorney with a focus on civil rights, who has litigated numerous political prosecutions, said it\u2019s difficult to determine exactly what is happening with Trump administration activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften what the administration says has no relationship to the reality of what it is or is not doing,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have stated there is an investigation of some type going on with respect to the funding of her lawsuit and beyond that, it\u2019s kind of impossible to know what it is they\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
With this reported investigation, for example, there have not been public reports about grand jury proceedings, witness subpoenas or search warrants.<\/p>\n
If there was an investigation, \u201cit\u2019s obviously retribution for her lawsuit and for [the] successful culmination of her trial,\u201d Kuby said, describing this situation as \u201cvirtually unheard of\u201d.<\/p>\n
Some believe the apparent deep animus the US president feels towad Carroll might portend to Trump\u2019s ego.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was just something very personal to him,\u201d said Tre Lovell, a longtime Los Angeles-based attorney. Being accused of sexual assault, Lovell said, \u201cis about as bad as it gets\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they were accusing him of doing it,\u201d Lovell said.<\/p>\n
Indeed, both Carroll trials dealt blows to Trump\u2019s do-no-wrong braggadocio.<\/p>\n
While Trump didn\u2019t show up to Carroll\u2019s first trial against him, this proceeding still proved an extreme embarrassment as a civil jury determined he had sexually abused and defamed her. Further, Trump\u2019s video deposition in this case was released, revealing that he mistook a photo of her for a picture of his second wife, Marla Maples.<\/p>\n
Trump did attend the damages trial and his comportment indicated that Carroll\u2019s claims continued to deeply perturb him years after she first made them. An examination of his behavior during the trial reveals his frequent outbursts, anger and complaints \u2013 all of them indicative of his belief that he was the victim of a plot to get him and also perhaps offering an explanation for the justice department\u2019s current focus on Carroll.<\/p>\n
Despite Judge Lewis Kaplan\u2019s admonition to keep quiet his conversations with Habba, Trump sustained his audible commentary and general petulance when Carroll\u2019s testimony resumed after the morning break.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defendant has been making statements again [that] we can hear at counsel table,\u201d Crowley told Kaplan. \u201cHe said it is a \u2018witch-hunt\u2019, it really is a con-job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaplan then delivered a blow to Trump\u2019s long consequence-free comportment.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited, and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me, and if he disregards court orders,\u201d Kaplan said. \u201cMr Trump, I hope I don\u2019t have to consider excluding you from the trial \u2026 I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love it, I would love it,\u201d Trump responded, gesturing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you would, you just can\u2019t control yourself in this circumstance, apparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t either,\u201d Trump fired back.<\/p>\n
Before Trump testified, as his and Carroll\u2019s lawyers were talking about the possible scope of his testimony, he commented \u201cI never met this woman,\u201d further indicating his displeasure.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep your voice down,\u201d Kaplan warned, only for another outburst to erupt. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Mr Trump. You\u2019re interrupting these proceedings by talking loudly while your counsel is talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump was prohibited from freewheeling commentary when given the opportunity to address jurors. As Habba asked whether he denied Carroll\u2019s allegation, Trump answered \u201cthat\u2019s exactly right. She said something. I considered it a false accusation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaplan stopped Trump, and did not permit him to speak about his denying Carroll\u2019s claim given the first trial\u2019s verdict.<\/p>\n
As the trial neared its end, Trump\u2019s behavior spiraled more. Carroll\u2019s lead attorney, Roberta Kaplan, was outlining the harm her client had suffered and noted that he continued his smears after losing the first trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cDonald Trump, however, acts as if these rules and laws just don\u2019t apply to him,\u201d lawyer Roberta Kaplan said about 10 minutes into her closing, noting that he spent \u201cthis entire trial\u201d insulting Carroll with online missives. Around this time, Trump got up and left.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me,\u201d Judge Kaplan stated. \u201cThe record will reflect that Mr Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom.\u201d Trump, who has denied wrongdoing, returned for Habba\u2019s closing.<\/p>\n
The White House deferred a request for comment to the justice department, which did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Carroll did not respond to requests for comment, and her representatives did not comment. Hoffman, who could not be reached, denied wrongdoing on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump\u2019s newest accusation of me is absurdly false. The premise of the investigation would be laughable if the subject matter weren\u2019t so serious,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cHe is investigating me because I supported E Jean\u2019s lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The US supreme court has not yet decided whether they will consider Trump\u2019s appeal of Carroll\u2019s $5m verdict.<\/p>\n
In Martinez\u2019s overall view, the reported investigation \u201cfeels like misplaced attention\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we\u2019ve got gas prices that are pretty high, when we\u2019re at war, it just feels like the focus should be on other things, and not this,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cI don\u2019t know why the administration has decided to pursue this right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and I just feel like this is a president who doesn\u2019t have his priorities straight \u2013 and is more focused on his career legacy and perception than he is about actually doing his job to help the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n
From what Kuby has seen over the years, \u201cretribution serves a number of goals\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt tends to chill and intimidate other people from coming forward with valid claims, if they know that no matter how much proven evidence they have, they\u2019re going to have their lives destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
And as for bullies, Kuby said, \u201cthere\u2019s a great personal satisfaction in destroying the life of somebody [who] <\/strong>has in some way offended you\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Donald Trump had a tantrum. Trump was seated at the defense table in Manhattan federal court on 17 January 2024 when E Jean Carroll \u2013 who has said that he sexually assaulted her at a swank New York City department store some three decades prior \u2013 confronted him for the first time in a courtroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[1940,964,24696,640,860,22101,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-50089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-carroll","9":"tag-donald","10":"tag-exacting","11":"tag-jean","12":"tag-obsessed","13":"tag-retribution","14":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/50090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}