Trump may testify in E Jean Carroll defamation trial today: Live updates – The Independent

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Republican appeared under oath in New York on Thursday afternoon following victory in New Hampshire primary
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Donald Trump testified on Thursday afternoon in his defamation trial in New York in the second case brought against him by writer E Jean Carroll. The former president was under strict guidelines as to what he could say and answered only a couple of questions.
A previous jury has already found Mr Trump liable for sexually abusing Ms Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and for subsequently defaming her. Judge Lewis Kaplan reminded his lawyer Alina Habba that the former president was not allowed to argue against that on the stand — hence the brief stint on the stand.
He continues to vigorously deny the allegations and, on Wednesday night, unleashed a series of attacks on Truth Social against the former Elle magazine columnist and the judge.
This comes after the Republican front-runner celebrated his victory in the New Hampshire GOP presidential primary by mocking his last remaining opponent Nikki Haley as his grip on the party grows ever stronger.
Meanwhile, former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro has been sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress for his refusal to appear before the January 6 select committee.
Before he was called to the witness stand, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan instructed the former president’s attorney that she can only ask him whether he stands by his previous deposition testimony, and if he has ever instructed anyone to hurt Ms Carroll.
While the jury was out of the room, as the judge and attorneys discussed what he could actually say, Mr Trump interrupted Ms Habba to repeat that he never met Ms Carroll and doesn’t know her. The judge told him to keep his voice down and told him he was not permitted to speak.
And in an extraordinarily brief exchange after only three questions from his attorney, Mr Trump testified that he stands by his previous deposition “100 per cent”.
Alex Woodward has been closely following the case, and field this report:
The former president is barred from disputing earlier judgments that he sexually assaulted or defamed her
Donald Trump is once again glossing over the fact that he doesn’t actually have to be in court for his civil trials, and could easily be out on the campaign trail…
Here’s what he wrote on Truth Social:
I just left the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan, the place that Crooked Joe Biden and his Thugs want me to be. It is a False Accusation case, financed and pushed by Political Operatives for purposes of ELECTION INTERFERENCE. I would rather be campaigning in Nevada and South Carolina, but it’s going smoothly, and we’re winning it all. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
The former president is in court of his own volition.
By the time votes were counted in New Hampshire on Tuesday, ex-South Carolina governor Nikki Haley was vowing to continue her quixotic primary run against former president Donald Trump. “It’s time to put the negativity and chaos behind us,” she told supporters, as news of her second-place finish rolled in.
The conventional wisdom of how this year’s Republican primary has gone goes something like this: After the 2022 midterms, Trump was on the out in favor of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis won the hearts of GOP tastemakers with his anti-woke crusading and anti-media pugilism. He was the natural MAGA successor, famously labeled “DeFuture” by Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post.
Then DeSantis went on an unexpected journey. He barely defeated Haley in Iowa, and lost to Trump by double digits. It seems the Florida governor’s fortunes soured when Trump’s legal problems gained momentum.
Continue reading…
Longtime consultants tell Andrew Feinberg that Republican politicians appear to have forgotten how to campaign at all
CNN reports that Donald Trump is expected back in court in New York on Friday for the closing arguments of the E Jean Carroll defamation case.
The network cited a source familiar with his plans.
Donald Trump in court on Thursday
A federal judge in Washington DC has sentenced former Trump White House aide Peter Navarro to four months in jail and fined $9,500 for wilfully defying a subpoena issued by the House January 6 select committee in 2021.
Navarro is the second ex-Trump administration aide to receive a custodial sentence after being convicted of contempt of Congress. Former president Donald Trump’s onetime chief White House strategist, Steve Bannon, was sentenced to four months in jail last year but is appealing his sentence.
Navarro, who a jury convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress in September, is expected to appeal his own sentence as well, though if Mr Trump returns to the White House after this year’s presidential election he is expected to pardon both of his former aides.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC:
Navarro is expected to appeal the sentence
Former President Donald Trump exclaims to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan “I never met this woman” as his lawyer Alina Habba stands during the second civil trial where E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her decades ago
Donald Trump testified and was watched closely by Judge Kaplan
The January 6 insurrection took place just three days into Rep Nancy Mace’s congressional career. Wanting to hit the ground running in Washington, the South Carolina freshman came up with an idea to “get punched in the face” to gain some traction with the media and bring attention to herself as hundreds of violent Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol unable to accept that their candidate had lost the 2020 election, according to a new report.
Gustaf Kilander reports on her plan…
South Carolina freshman went from wanting to confront rioters to get media attention to endorsing former President Donald Trump over home state ally
Senator Susan Collins faced backlash on social media after she criticised a Maine official’s decision to remove Donald Trump from the state’s ballot while insisting she would not endorse the former president even if he is nominated.
Both Maine and Colorado have removed the former president from the ballot, citing concerns that his stoking of the Capitol riot is tantamount to insurrection.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said she believes that Mr Trump violated the 14th Amendment and did engage in insurrection on 6 January 2021. The state’s decision to remove Mr Trump will ultimately be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Graig Graziosi reports:
Ms Collins previously said Mr Trump ‘learned his lesson’ after he incited the Capitol riot
Colorado’s House Republican leader Mike Lynch has announced he will step down, just days after reports surfaced about his 2022 arrest on DUI and gun possession charges.
Mr Lynch’s resignation came after he survived a no-confidence vote on Monday in which roughly half of his caucus tried to oust him.
The vote ended in a tie, meaning Mr Lynch was able to keep his job as the minority leader of the Colorado House.
He survived again in a similar vote on Tuesday, but by Wednesday morning, he confirmed his resignation.
Marth McHardy has the story:
Mike Lynch’s resignation came after he survived a no-confidence vote on Monday in which roughly half of his caucus tried to oust him
Donald Trump’s attorneys have attached themselves to the motion to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case.
The new filing calls statements from Ms Willis “provocative and inflammatory extrajudicial racial comments” that are “cloaked in repeated references to God” and “reinforce and amplify the ‘appearance of impropriety’ in her judgment and prosecutorial conduct”.
Read the full filing here
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Donald Trump and E Jean Carroll
Reuters
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