Still under the weather so I won’t post as much today. But had to post this. #Trump #EJeanCarroll #legal
Via Inner City Press: 1/…
Judge Kaplan: So let me say, during the arguments and instructions, no one else is to speak...
Carroll's lawyer: We have an issue with some of the tweets, they were not entered into evidence.
Madaio: These are tweets during the five hour gap. They are objecting.
Judge Kaplan: You did not succeed in entering them. Show me the slide
[Me: wait for it…]
2/ Press:
Judge Kaplan: You are not showing the slide.
Habba: Your Honor, Ms. Kaplan stipulated -Judge Kaplan: Sit down. You are on the verge of spending some time in the lock up.
(Habba appears to laugh)
Judge Kaplan: Bring in the jury
3/ Judge previously said this, too:
Judge Kaplan: "No one in the courtroom is to say anything except for opposing counsel...there are to be no interruptions by anybody else. No audible comments by anybody else."
4/ NOTE: I won’t reply to you today, for the most part. Not up to par. I’ll post when I feel up to it. Thanks ahead of time for all your replies.
5/ Roberta Kaplan: Donald Trump's testimony yesterday was brief because he doesn't get a do-over
Trump's lawyer Madaio: Objection!
Judge Kaplan: Overruled.
Roberta Kaplan: This is about how to compensate Ms. Carroll for the two statements- & punishing Donald Trump.
This trial is about getting him to stop once and for all. It's also about whether the rules apply to all, including to Donald Trump. Think of his attitude to this proceeding - he says, She was asking for it
6/ Tantrump! Trump just “stormed out of court” (NBC)
Roberta Kaplan: He claims he had no choice but to break the law & defame her. She was a beloved advice columnist. Then a wave on soc med, echoing what Donald Trump says. … "pay dearly" & "dangerous territory."
Donald Trump has tried to normalize this conduct. Normally, when people lose in court, they court, they change their behavior. [Trump leaves]
Judge Kaplan: The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose and left the courtroom
7/ R Kaplan: Ms. Carroll's friend Carol Martin said she just wanted her day in court. Now she has it.
Judge Kaplan: We're going to change gears. The defense is to remain seated. That includes you, Mr. Epshteyn, not that you're part of the defense
R Kaplan: Ms. Carroll's success as an advice columnist obviously relied on her audience's trust. She built it over decades. She had one truth too painful to share - in the Spring of 1996 Donald Trump sexually assaulted her. She tried to suppress it
8/ Roberta Kaplan: Her 274 page book contained nine pages about Donald Trump. New York Magazine published that. Donald Trump then told lie after lie after lie, to destroy her. Put up Slide 4
[Press: It is entitled, Defamatory Statement:
disgrace... never met this person]
7:07 AM · Jan 26, 2024
·
9/ RK Donald Trump was lying and trying to destroy Ms. Carroll. On the White House lawn he repeated it, claiming that he didn't know her. He threatened her - People have to be careful, because they're playing with very dangerous territory
He said, She is not my type. This was designed to humiliate Ms. Carroll. But remember, he mistook Ms. Carroll for Marla Maples, his ex-wife, also a beauty queen. Show the video
[on video: Trump: "that's John Johnson... And that's Marla...]
10/ Roberta Kaplan: Then he claimed the photo was blurry. It is not. This was classic Donald Trump.
Now, the damages. Obviously Ms. Carroll suffered harm... She now has only 1800 paying customers on Substack. Professor Humphreys gave you the estimates of harm
11/ Roberta Kaplan: Prof Humphreys estimates between 7 and 12 million dollars to repair reputation - smaller than other programs, as she explained.
Madaio: Objection. It's not in the record.
Roberta Kaplan: It is.
Judge Kaplan: The defense asked about other programs
Roberta Kaplan: She told you about the case of Rudi Giuliani and the Georgia elections workers -
Madaio: Objection!
Judge Kaplan: It's up to the jury.
12/ Klasfeld clarifies:
Carroll's team uses Rudy Giuliani's defamation of Georgia election workers Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman as a guide for what's necessary for reputational repair.
They want Trump to pay between $7 to $12.1 million for this category alone.
13/ Press:
Roberta Kaplan: Imagine being Ms Carroll in that hotel room on 10th Avenue, struck by fear and sadness - the man who attacked her was coming after her again. She wanted to close the curtain. So she hung up jump suit - she was unable to sleep
14/ Roberta Kaplan: There were more threats waiting for her every time she answered her phone. She tweeted, the world needs love - the responses were, "you are a c*nt" and "no way Trump touched this mess," etc. Since 2019 they have never stopped
15/ Roberta Kaplan: The dollar number to compensate her has to be very large. At least as much as $12 million for the reputational repair campaign, and probably more. And how much will it take to get Donald Trump to stop? Punitive damages are to punish the malicious
16/ Roberta Kaplan: Consider what Donald Trump has done here. He said she made it up, she was a disgrace; he threatened her twice, he unleashed millions of others to flood her with hate. We played his deposition - he called her mentally sick, and threatened to sue
17/ Roberta Kaplan: Watch this CNN Town Hall
[Trump: My poll numbers went up [audience cheers] I have no idea who this woman is, she is a wack job]
Roberta Kaplan: Did you see that? The audience laughed. It made Ms. Carroll feel horribly
18/ RK: His attacks have intensified. While Ms. Carroll was still on the stand, he held a press conference - while you were still sitting the jury box - watch this
[Video of 40 Wall St press conference: It's a rigged deal, it's a made up fabricated story
Last Thursday he said, I've said it a thousand times, I never heard of E Jean Carroll and would never touch her.
Are you kidding me? A thousand times? It's up to you to make him stop. He is very wealthy. He said his brand is worth $10 billion
19/ Roberta Kaplan: He said Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.5 billion
Madaio: Objection. These are not personal assets.
Judge Kaplan: Overruled. The jury will remember what was said.
You can award punitive damages. Yesterday my cross showed he didn't come to 1st trial - but he came to this one - well until just now
- because he cares about money. So your decision is the only hope
20/ Roberta Kaplan: Donald Trump can't even deny -
Madaio: Objection
Roberta Kaplan: .. he can't deny because of the first trial... Your Honor, can I go on?
Judge Kaplan: I overrule[d]
Roberta Kaplan: Donald Trump had been famous for years. Why did Ms. Carroll wait?
And via Klasfeld:
"At bottom, Trump's strategy is to blame the victim — pure and simple." [...]
"You know that's wrong. Donald Trump isn't the victim here."
21/ Press:
Roberta Kaplan: The so-called gap? Give me a break. The White House, which was run by Mr. Trump, had already denied -
Madaio: Objection.
Judge Kaplan: Overruled.]
22/ Roberta Kaplan: Judge Kaplan will tell you that a person who has been defamed has no duty to mitigate. Donald Trump's defense table, the first very day, made an argument that has no basis in law. They're saying she had a duty to keep her mouth shut
23/ [Me: RK is brilliant]
RK: Donald Trump claims she actually benefited. It takes a lot of gall to make an argument like that. Donald Trump's lawyer described Ms. Carroll as a fame-seeking monster-
Habba: Objection!
Judge: The jury will recall what was said
RK:I'm going to sit down in a couple of min, I promise. On behalf of E. Jean and our whole team, thank you for paying attention to the evidence which was ugly. How much will it take to fix her reputation? Between 7 to 12 million. We say 12.
24/ Roberta Kaplan: Next, we say another $12 million, probably much more. On punitives, I'm not going to tell you exactly how much. You can consider his wealth. Donald Trump is worth billions of dollars,
he said that under oath.
This will take an unusually high award
25/ Roberta Kaplan: When you deliberate later today, consider we have a former President of the US who has shown contempt for the rule of law and our system of justice. Stand up for E. Jean Carroll and the rule of law.
If not, none of us would ever be safe from bullies. There is a way: you have the opportunity, maybe even the responsibility, to put an end of this right now with your verdict -
make him pay for what he has done
26/ Roberta Kaplan: Now is the time to make him pay for it... dearly.
Judge Kaplan: Thank you Ms. Kaplan. We'll take a ten minute break.
I like that Roberta Kaplan is helping the jury walk in Carroll's shoes. For me, that's affecting- imagine if it happened to you. The fear, the shock, the despair, the continuous verbal assaults and threats....
@GottaLaff
Great summation!
@TCatInReality @GottaLaff Ms. Kaplan is very, very good at this
NFL
HAhahah I knew his false claims about the value of the estate would come back to bite him in the posterior!
@GottaLaff When opposing counsel is successfully channeling Princess Leah, you have lost.
"They're saying she had a duty to keep her mouth shut"
I freaking love attorney Kaplan! It really *is* about muzzling a victim of rape. Here, the muzzler has almost limitless power to do so.
@JaneDoeTheFirst @GottaLaff
Well, he does claim to have absolute immunity from anything criminal.
Yeah, which makes this a critical test for the rule of law.
lol.. I just about said the same RK is killing it...
holy fuck.... slay....
@GottaLaff Make it hurt!
Perfect! I got goosebumps!
@GottaLaff NFL
Wow excellent closing statement!!!! Nailed it!!!
@GottaLaff Thank you for transcribing (and for the editorials!).
NFL.... RK killed it and with trumps big mouth... and his total disregard for another humans well being and safety... this could be a 200M + award,, on top the 12+M.... but one never knows what a jury will do... but it's going to take a shitload to get trump to STFU... if even then...
@GottaLaff
I'm fascinated to hear what his defense team will say in closing argument to rescue ANYTHING from this. Their strategy so far has been to play to the MAGA audience outside, doubtless alienating the jury. It's hard to imaging that jury being swayed by anything Trump's team could say at this point.
@n1xnx @GottaLaff
Yes as per their typical fashion, since they don't have a legal defense they'll frame their statements to affect the public opinion.
He is of course sending out fundraising emails based on this court case as he does for all of his, but I suspect that their effectiveness is beginning to wane. It's going to be interesting to compare his fundraising success to Biden's this quarter.
@GreenFire @n1xnx @GottaLaff That's about what I expect.
@GottaLaff I hope the jury will make as just decision as is possible, given the finiteness of Pumpkin's wealth.
@GottaLaff I really wish her closing speech could have been recorded.
@GottaLaff
Looking forward to Habba's closing arguments...probably a laundry list of Trump's grievances - Crooked Hillary, Russia, Russia, Russia!, rigged election/election interference...and of course a denial of guilt.
@GottaLaff @darthstar Since she claims to have Covid, I wonder if she’ll even show up. Or if it will be disappointingly low energy.
@obviousdwest @darthstar She didn’t claim that. She said she was exposed and tested negative
… and Hunter’s laptop …@GottaLaff @darthstar
@GottaLaff
Roberta Kaplan did a brilliant job and made the other team look like the petty amateurs they are. FYI: Your style of sharing information from the other site is easier to follow than it is there. You killed it!
Sorry you are under the weather Laffy. Sending you positive energy and a hug.
No need to answer.
@GottaLaff NFL
Wish I knew what happened when he walked out and no one was allowed follow him. Where did he go?
@urbanfoxe @GottaLaff Probably changing his Depends.
@GottaLaff thanksfor summarising all of this, and feel better soon.
Someone needs to do the head of lettuce thing with Alina Habba.
> Someone needs to do the head of lettuce thing with Alina Habba.
More of a brussel sprout.
For those that might not get the reference:
@GottaLaff If [when] this court hits [expletive deleted] with a big penalty, and NYS hits him for the fraud, who gets priority for payment? Or do lawyers and collection agents just go after him like a swarm of piranhas? Will a court have to oversee? Just curious what that procedure might look like.
@maccruiskeen
I fervently hope he tries to tap some of the oligarchs he gave 10s of $B to with tax cuts and dereg and they tell him GFYS.
He had to put up the $5 mil damages award from the prior trial into an escrow account as a condition of filing an appeal. I assume that $5 mil is untouchable by anyone save Carroll and her attorneys.
@GottaLaff Carroll's lawyers are urging the jury to award punitive damages based on Trump's claimed net worth of $10 billion, arguing that too small an award won't deter him from continuing to slander her. And that's not wrong! BUT BRACE YOURSELVES: a huge punis verdict almost certainly will get reduced to a number too small to matter much to Trump. Here's why:
1/
@GottaLaff The Supreme Court has said that "excessive" punitive damages violate the due process clause. Wikipedia summarizes the law well:
"[T[he Supreme Court... has made several decisions which limit awards of punitive damages through the due process of law clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. ...
2/
@GottaLaff
"... In a number of cases, the Court has indicated that a 4:1 ratio between punitive and compensatory damages is high enough to lead to a finding of constitutional impropriety and that any ratio of 10:1 or higher is almost certainly unconstitutional. However, the Supreme Court carved out a notable exception to this rule of proportionality in the case of TXO Production Corp. v. Alliance Resources Corp., where it affirmed an award of $10 million in punitive damages, despite the compensatory damages being only $19,000, a punitive-to-compensatory ratio of more than 526-to-1. In this case, the Supreme Court affirmed that disproportionate punitive damages were allowed for especially egregious conduct."
3/
Well, 500 x 12 is 6,000,000,000
$6B
Probably won't go that high, but he does claim to be worth that and more, so...
@GottaLaff Carroll's lawyers are asking the jury for $12 million in compensatory damages. The 10:1 punitives-to-compensatories ratio that SCOTUS says almost always is unconstitutional would cap punis here at something under $120 million – only ±1% of Trump's claimed net worth, or ±5% of his (probable) actual net worth. Not enough to make him stop.
4/
@GottaLaff Of course, there is an exception to those ratios: punitive damages may vastly exceed compensatory damages where the conduct was "especially egregious."
But in the case that created that exception, the compensatory damages were very low (under $20k), so obvs a 10x or $200k punitives award wouldn't deter the huge corporate defendant. Here, the compensatories will be in the millions, and the defendant is an individual.
5/
@GottaLaff
And who here thinks Trump's pals on SCOTUS, at least two of whom are themselves harassers or sexual assailants and one of whom is a literal Handmaiden, will consider a man belittling a woman to deny sexual assault to be "especially egregious"?
6/
@GottaLaff You can see how this likely will play out. If the verdict hits Trump with, say, $1 billion in punitives, SCOTUS will have to take the case and (following what I'm sure will be calm, respectful debate in chambers) reduce the award. And knowing that, the trial judge may well reduce it himself ("remittitur"), to a number he calculates is low enough to discourage SCOTUS from taking the case but still higher than the number Trump wants.
And when the trial judge does that, many people here will scream that the system is rigged. (Which it is, but Judge Kaplan isn't part of that problem.)
Meanwhile, I'm eating more popcorn than a person on keto is supposed to.
7/fin
Maybe dial back the strawman? The jury isn't going to award 9 figures.
@artemesia @GottaLaff You were right.