Trump facing the jury and “his own words”

(New York) Donald Trump has not finished being judged for the video in which he boasted of being able to kiss women and grab their sex without their consent.

In November 2016, he certainly survived the verdict of the American electorate, which elected him to the presidency of the United States despite his misogynistic and incriminating remarks. However, in May 2023, he must face another jury, made up of nine New Yorkers, who may be less tolerant than the first vis-à-vis the same video and the same man, who is again presidential candidate for 2024.

At least that is the hope of the author’s lead lawyer E. Jean Carroll, who accuses Donald Trump of raping her in 1996 and defaming her in 2022. On Monday, during her closing argument, Roberta Kaplan returned on the video of the show Access Hollywood and the reaction it produced in the former president during a deposition last October.

“In a real sense, Donald Trump is a witness against himself,” the attorney said of the defendant, who was conspicuously absent throughout the two-week civil trial held in New York.

Roberta Kaplan recalled that Donald Trump had not taken advantage of his testimony to retract his remarks heard in the video dating back to September 2005 and broadcast for the first time in October 2016.

On the contrary, she pointed out, the ex-president declared under oath that the “stars” behaved in this way with women since time immemorial, “unfortunately or fortunately”.

“He really said happily!” Roberta Kaplan exclaimed in disbelief, addressing the six men and three women on the jury who will begin their deliberations on Tuesday morning after receiving the judge’s instructions.

Alluding to the alleged rape of E. Jean Carroll in a fitting room at the Bergdorf Goodman store, the lawyer added, describing some of the charges against Donald Trump: “He grabbed her by the pussy – or the vagina, excuse my language – and pressed his fingers inside her. »

The lawyer recalled that E. Jean Carroll was not the only woman to accuse Donald Trump of sexual assault or misconduct. In her closing argument, she alluded to the two women who testified about it during the trial: Jessica Leeds, a retired businesswoman, and Natasha Stoynoff, a former magazine journalist. People.

Roberta Kaplan claimed that Donald Trump used the same strategy with these women that he mentioned in the video ofAccess Hollywood.

“He tells you in his own words how he treats women,” she told the jury, whose members remained impassive throughout the closing arguments.

“Both of these things may be true”

Joseph Tacopina, Donald Trump’s lawyer, did not seek to defend his client’s comments about how “stars” behave with women, calling them “rude”. But the video ofAccess Hollywood is a distraction, he argued.

“You may think that Donald Trump is a rude and rude person and that [l’histoire d’E. Jean Carroll] no sense. Both of these things may be true. »

In the end, Donald Trump will not have taken the stand, even though Judge Lewis Kaplan had given him until 5 p.m. Sunday to reconsider his decision not to testify. So, apart from his lawyers, no one showed up before the jury to defend the former president, a fact that Joe Tacopina attributed to the confusion of E. Jean Carroll as to the date of the alleged rape.

“They don’t want to specify the period because they don’t want Donald Trump to present an alibi or a witness,” said the former president’s lawyer.

Counsel devoted much of his closing argument to discrediting the evidence of E. Jean Carroll and her two friends – Carol Martin and Lisa Birnbach – to which the ex-columnist of the magazine She confided immediately after the alleged rape.

“This whole story is clearly an implausible work of fiction,” said the lawyer, who accused the plaintiff of wanting to get rich on the backs of Donald Trump and harm his political career.

E. Jean Carroll, ex-Miss Indiana and pioneer New York journalist, accused Donald Trump of raping her in a book published in 2019. In October 2022, the 45^e President called Carroll a “liar” and called her accusation a “hoax” and a “total scam” on Truth Social. He also reiterated that she was “not his type”.

The jury must determine whether Donald Trump raped and defamed E. Jean Carroll and, if so, what damages the former president should pay the author.

“For E. Jean Carroll, this lawsuit has nothing to do with money,” Roberta Kaplan told jurors during her closing argument. “I’m not going to stand here and tell you how much you should award E. Jean Carroll in damages. What is the price to pay for decades of life alone, without company? Someone to cook dinner with, someone to walk the dog with, someone to watch TV with. And the feeling, for decades, of being dirty and unworthy. I’m not going to put a number on that. »