A New York federal judge threatened to boot former President Trump out of his courtroom for being “disruptive” during a trial on Wednesday to determine how much he owes writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after she claimed he assaulted her.
“Mr. Trump has every right to be present here. That right can be forfeited, particularly if he is disruptive, as has been reported to me. “And if he disregards court orders, Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial,” remarked U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on Wednesday, CNN reported.
“I understand you’re probably eager for me to do that,” the judge said.
“I would love it,” Trump said, according to many outlets.
“I know you would,” Kaplan responded. “You just can’t control yourself in this circumstance, apparently.”
“You can’t either,” Trump said, according to the Associated Press.
The judge’s warning to Trump came after Carroll’s counsel said that Trump ignored the judge’s orders to “keep his voice down” and continued to make statements about the case audible to jurors, including that the trial is a “witch hunt” and a “con job.”
Earlier in the day, Trump implied that Carroll was lying about her attack and that she appeared to have “recovered her memory,” according to Carroll’s lawyer Shawn Crowley.
Carroll claims that Trump forced himself on her in a luxury department store changing room during a chance encounter in 1996. After she detailed the experience in a 2019 memoir, he publicly questioned her honesty and motivation for coming forward, she claims.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, claiming he never met her and that nothing happened between them.
A previous trial in the matter took place in May when a jury ruled that Trump did sexually abuse and defame Carroll, but that the columnist did not substantiate her claim that the former president raped her. Trump did not attend the trial, which resulted in Carroll being awarded $5 million in damages.
Carroll is now demanding almost $10 million in compensation damages and millions more in punitive penalties.
Trump has utilized his court battles to strengthen his position in the Republican presidential primaries. During his months-long fraud trial, also in New York, the former president delivered regular campaign speeches from the courthouse hallways and raised funds through his appearance. He also clashed with the judge in the case, whom he described as “Trump-hating” and politically prejudiced against him.
Trump easily won the Iowa caucuses this week and will be the favorite in next week’s New Hampshire vote. In addition, he is edging out President Biden in several national polls.