The New York judge presiding over E. Jean Carroll’s defamation damages trial threatened to kick former President Donald Trump out of the courtroom on Wednesday if he continued to make disparaging remarks about Carroll’s testimony loud enough for jurors to hear.
Trump had been speaking loudly and gesturing to his lawyer when Carroll told a nine-person jury how he ruined her reputation and how his supporters threatened her life. Trump could be heard making comments like, “It is a witch hunt” and “It really is a con job,” according to Carroll’s attorney, Shawn Crowley, who raised the problem with the judge.
“Mr. Trump has the right to be present here,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said after jurors left the courtroom for their lunch break. “That right can be forfeited, and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive and if he disregards court orders.”
Kaplan, addressing the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner, added, “Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial. I understand you are very eager for me to do that.”
“I would love it,” Trump quipped. “I would love it.”
Kaplan responded, “I know you would because you just can’t control yourself in this circumstance. You just can’t.”
After lunch, Trump’s attorneys made an immediate motion for Kaplan to recuse himself from the trial because of the “general hostility” the judge had shown toward Trump’s side.
“Denied,” Kaplan said.
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Carroll sued Trump for defamation after he called her a liar and denied claims of sexual assault. Trump has continued to deny the charges vehemently even though he was found liable last year. He has claimed that he never met Carroll, said she wasn’t his “type,” and accused her of using his name to sell books and gain notoriety.
Because he has already been found liable, the jury’s only task will be to decide how much money Trump will have to pay Carroll for mocking her claims while he was president of the United States and for remarks he made after a different jury found him liable for sexual assault and defamation in 2023.
