As Thursday marked the end of much-anticipated testimony in the case, Trump suggested earlier in the day that he might end up appearing in court and take the stand. Trump has been away from court since the trial began, holding a political event last week and traveling to Scotland and Ireland this week to visit golf courses he owns there.
Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for Trump, said this week and again on Thursday when he formally waived Trump’s right to indicate that his client would not testify in the case. Trump is under no obligation to testify or appear.
But speaking from his trip on Thursday, Trump inveighed against Carroll, his suit and the judge hearing the case, seemed to suggest that he would “probably attend” and “come back and … confront” Carroll. It is unclear whether Trump will appear in court, and Tacopina on Thursday did not appear to suggest that his client would.
US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who is presiding over the case, said at the end of the court session Thursday that while Trump has said he will not appear, the judge will give him until later. Sunday afternoon to say if he wants to change his mind. Kaplan did not say whether Trump would be allowed to reverse course, but said he had given the option given Trump’s comments from abroad.
Although Trump remained outside the courtroom, his side of the case was heard when portions of his deposition were played for jurors on Wednesday and Thursday. Trump was deposed in the case last year, and Carroll’s lawyers say they don’t need him to testify because they can play some of the recordings.
In recordings played in court, Trump can be heard repeating his previous comments disparaging Carroll’s physical appearance – effectively suggesting that he could not have attacked Carroll, now 79, because he saw that he was not attractive.
“I saw a picture of him,” Trump, 76, said of his accuser in a sworn videotaped interview last October. “And the only difference between me and other people is that I am honest.”
Trump, who sat slumped in his chair and watched the entire deposition footage, also insulted Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, who conducted the questioning. Roberta Kaplan is not related to the judge.
Previously released portions of the deposition show Trump also mistook a photo of Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples.
“That’s Marla, yes,” he said during the deposition. “That’s my wife.” His lawyer quickly corrected him.
Carroll first publicly accused Trump in 2019, during his presidency, saying they bumped into each other in the mid-1990s at Bergdorf Goodman, the department store. When they entered a dressing room, Carroll alleged, Trump assaulted her, inserting his fingers and then his genitals inside her vagina. Carroll said he escaped and got away after kneeling him.
Trump has said the encounter never happened, denied knowing Carroll, and said he made up the accusation to try to sell the books.
The last witnesses called by Carroll’s side in court included Carol Martin, a journalist and longtime friend of Carroll’s. According to Carroll, after the attack she told Martin and one other person, then kept quiet for decades, only deciding to speak out when she included the accusation in a 2019 memoir.
Carroll’s defense also called Ashlee Humphreys, an expert who said it would cost up to $2.7 million to conduct a reputation repair campaign for Carroll and Natasha Stoynoff, another accuser. of Trump saying that Trump forced himself on her at Mar-a-Lago while she was there. in reporting the story in People magazine in 2005. Stoynoff testified at the trial on Wednesday.
Trump’s lawyers repeated what their client had said, describing Carroll as a stranger to him and saying his story was a fabrication.
During his opening statement last week, Tacopina said his case will come from the cross-examination of people called to the stand by Carroll’s side.
“Why is that?” the lawyer said. “Because it never happened, because there were no witnesses to call to prove a negative.”
Carroll’s lawsuit was heard in Manhattan amid a series of investigations and other legal threats facing Trump, who is running for president again.
In April, Trump was indicted in Manhattan and charged with 34 felony counts in connection with payments made to keep an adult-film actress from speaking during the 2016 presidential election about her allegations of an affair with him for years. has passed.
On Thursday, his lawyers filed a notice to dismiss the state-level lawsuit brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to federal court, arguing that the case involved federal election law and that Trump was in office when he allegedly concealed the nature of the payments to his former fixer Michael Cohen.
A Bragg spokeswoman said the district attorney is reviewing the bid and will respond in court.
The New York attorney also filed a civil suit against Trump, three of his adult children and his namesake company, alleging widespread fraud.
The Justice Department is investigating Trump’s handling of classified material after he left office, along with his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. A Georgia prosecutor is also investigating whether Trump and his allies broke the law in trying to reverse his 2020 loss in that state; He said charging decisions in the case will be announced this summer.
Trump has denied wrongdoing in all of these matters and insisted the investigation was politically motivated.
Berman reports from Washington.
