It came up immediately, via Carroll's lawyer @kaplanrobbie.
She's reading it to judge.
Carroll's lawyer argues Trump's Truth Social posts violate 2 court orders, not to discuss lawyers or DNA issue.
Judge presses Trump's lawyer on latter issue: "[Trump], for 3 years, refused to give a DNA sample & now he wants it in the case?"
Judge Kaplan says Trump seems to be trying to communicate to his supporters, or even perhaps jurors, about issues that aren't supposed to be part of case.
6/ Testimony turns to a detailed layout of the store.
Carroll's legal team wants to undercut a key argument of Trump's defense at trial — that someone would have noticed if a sexual assault took place in an upscale department store in Manhattan.
On cross-ex, Trump's lawyer questions Beall about the store's policies about retaining and/or providing security camera footage.
8/ The early part of Carroll's testify goes into her life and career, until questioning pivots to this photo of her, Donald Trump, her ex-husband John Johnson, and Trump's ex-wife Ivana.
10/ [Okay, points to the attorney for asking why E Jean would find Trump attractive 🤢 ]
Q: Did you find him attractive?
A: Yes.
Q: Why?
A: He was very personable.
Asked about the timing of the alleged rape, Carroll acknowledges that she has struggled to remember the date, and she delves into context clues without a firm answer until Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina objects.
11/ Judge Kaplan adopts a wait-and-see approach and allows her to continue.
Carroll says she believes it was spring 1996, because her friend Lisa Birnbach published an article about Trump in February of that year, which involved a trip to MAL. Birnbach was one of two women Carroll says she told about the alleged rape.
"I believe that Lisa never would have gone down to Mar-a-Lago if she knew what [Trump] had done to me," she says.
12/ Carroll said that the encounter began when she was leaving the store and Trump raised his hand up, imitating what she called the "universal" signal.
After Trump recognized her as the "advice lady," she replied: "Hey, you're that real estate tycoon," she says.
Much of this testimony mirrors her deposition on the subject, including Trump allegedly mocking her when she revealed her age.
"You are so old," Carroll quoted him saying, calling his inflection "humorous."
20/ Asked if she remembered how long the alleged assault lasted, Carroll replies: "Very few minutes, very few. That's another thing that surprised me."
She said it surprised her because of the sudden change from the "joshing" tone from earlier.
Me: Remember Trump "joking" about grabbing women by the pussy? Welp.
23/ I turned off CW now. I have trouble w CW in this case because this is important testimony that shouldn't "offend," it should enlighten. And yes, it should shock. Let's not be afraid or offended by truth. Just my opinion. Back to testimony:
She says she told her friend, anchorwoman Carol Martin, about it, & that Martin advised against coming forward.
“Keep it to yourself," she recalled Martin advising. "He has 200 lawyers. He’ll bury you.”
25/ Carroll adds that people view women who are sexually abused as "soiled goods."
"People say, 'You're so brave. You're so brave,'" but also: "I don't know," questioning whether the woman should have been smarter, should have screamed, or shouldn't have flirted so much.
Meanwhile, on the court's docket, the judge shows again how serious he is about juror anonymity. Check out how he starts an order about bringing lunch to them throughout the trial.
"Due to the circumstances of the case..." it begins...
33/ Carroll's attorney appears to be drawing out every piece of information that he expects Trump's counsel will characterize as inconsistencies on cross-ex.
She's praised "The Apprentice."
Q: How did you like the show of someone who raped you?
She said it was well-produced.
She waxes eloquent about the ambition of the contestants.
She agrees that she continued to go to Bergdorf Goodman after her alleged assault.
36/ On Tuesday, Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina ended his opening statement with a photograph of E. Jean Carroll smiling next to a man wearing a Trump mask in her "Most Hideous Men in New York" walking tour.
Tacopina told jurors a "picture is worth 1000 words."
Showing her the same photograph, her attorney asked her: "Why are you smiling next to someone who's dressed like Donald Trump?"
@GottaLaff I try not to think things like “ That poor woman,” as I’m aware it could be considered denigrating, but my heart goes out to her. I will never understand how some lawyers can look in a mirror
@GottaLaff
TYVM for your coverage of this trial and everything you do.
I'm not certain how I could despise him any more than I do, but guess what?
I truly think he's soulless.
Judge Kaplan issues a big ruling before jury reenters from afternoon recess:
Trump can't draw out testimony about E. Jean Carroll's litigation financing by LinkedIn billionaire Reid Hoffman, the judge finds.
"I have concluded that there's virtually nothing in there as to credibility, and even if there were, the unfair prejudicial effect into going into this subject would outweigh [any] probative value."
38/ 👀 Carroll's lawyer notes the Eric Trump tweeted about him.
After that, Kaplan issues a stern warning to Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina, saying the posts could put the ex-prez and "conceivably" his son "in harm's way." Judge: "If I were in your shoes, I’d be having a conversation with your client."
He adds later that "there are some relevant United States statutes here and somebody on your side ought to be thinking about them. "
Ex-federal prosecutor @JoyceWhiteVance unpacks the "relevant United States statutes" a federal judge may have had in mind in reference to Trump's out-of-court swipes at E. Jean Carroll on social media before her testimony.
Joyce Alene @JoyceWhiteVance
The judge in the E Jean Carroll trial is taking Trump's derogatory social media posts from this morning seriously. His reference to other federal statutes is likely to the 18 USC 1500 series of obstruction of justice crimes.
I would like to add that it is not a #misoginistic but a #misanthropic issue. It happens to all (perceived) weaker people.
However, I have long lost the Messiah or missionary complex:
I do not need to educate all people. I know it is not always possible, but ignoring them when not being able to show them how uneducated they are is also an option.
What I meant is that if a person always interprets a none-reaction (e.g. being frozen from shock) as being weak or even "consenting" to be "assaulted" that is "retarded", as it shows their lack of perception and education.
@HistoPol I tend to balk when people use that word after having worked for years with special needs kids who were hurt and offended when they heard "retarded" used as a casual pejorative. @harriettmb
I can see your point and having had quite some exposure with disabled people in an earlier position, I would not use it in this environment.
However, I refuse to budge to all trends in whitewashing the language, using euphemisms for almost anything. Political correctness IMO often leads to not being able to express a thought concisely anymore.
...to be a racial slur, as happened with "Eskimo" recently, which the Inuit (appropriate term) just call "the e-word", I strive to change my vocabulary.
Being on an international platform makes these requests even more challenging as many people can be offended by many things, in particular in English, spoken (natively) in so many different countries.
@HistoPol@GottaLaff@harriettmb yah OK. Nevermind that the "soft spot" you're aiming at here is basically just people with cognitive disabilities, who happen to be among rapists' favorite targets.
This isn't whitewashing. It's a call for accuracy, thoughtfulness, and truth in language use.
I realize that this is a sensitive question, but from experience regarding accidents that cause great pain, isn't it unlikely that a rape victim who was not intoxicated or mentally impaired would not remember exactly when it happened?
@GottaLaff Here, I visited Truth Social so you don't have to. And yes, Trump just invited the court to order him to provide a DNA sample and invited E. Jean Carroll to add yet another defamation claim.
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