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Former President Donald Trump could face a surprise from a judge as he returns to court this week for a defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll.
Carroll, 80, sued Trump in 2019 over a range of statements relating to her allegation that Trump raped her in the mid-1990s that she claims are untrue and damaged her character. Trump claimed he had never met her and accused her of using the claim to try to try and sell her book. The case heads to trial in New York beginning on Tuesday, January 16.
But now a legal analyst has said Trump could be in for a surprise as he won't know what to expect in terms of "measures" to stop the "circumvention of its [the court] rulings and of the law", as outlined in court documents by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Judge Kaplan's refusal to detail the measures he'll take to ensure Trump obeys prior rulings & the law complicates Trump's decision tree. He'll have to decide whether to show up in NY not knowing what Kaplan has in store for him, before, during, or after he takes the stand."
These measures could include issuing orders, imposing penalties, or implementing other actions deemed appropriate by the court to maintain the integrity of its rules and the legal system.
"Prior rulings" refers to Trump previously being found liable for sexually abusing Carroll following a trial that concluded in May 2023 and awarded her $5 million in damages. Trump has consistently denied that the incident ever took place.
For the duration of the upcoming trial due to begin this week, Judge Kaplan ruled in advance that Trump could not dispute the outcome of that ruling.
"Consequently, the fact that Mr Trump sexually abused – indeed, raped – Ms Carroll has been conclusively established and is binding in this case," Kaplan said.
"Mr Trump is precluded from offering any testimony, evidence, or argument suggesting or implying that he did not sexually assault Ms Carroll, that she fabricated her account of the assault, or that she had any motive to do so."
The jury in this defamation case can only decide if Trump defamed Carroll with his statements made in 2019, and if so, what financial penalties should be awarded.
Carroll is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and substantially more in unspecified punitive damages. She will testify and Trump is listed as a witness, although his in-person attendance is not compulsory and it remains to be seen if he will attend. The trial is expected to last about a week.
Newsweek has contacted Trump for comment via email.
About the writer
Aliss Higham is a Newsweek reporter based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her focus is reporting on Social Security, other government benefits ... Read more