As the trial in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against Donald Trump got underway last week, the former president took a familiar step: The Republican threw a small tantrum online.
The day before the plaintiff took the witness stand, Trump published some angry missives to his social media platform, condemning Carroll’s allegations as “fraudulent & false” and a “SCAM.”
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan was not pleased, telling one of Trump’s lawyers last week that the former president could be “tampering with a new source of potential liability.” Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said he would speak with his client about such communications.
As the trial nears its endpoint — Carroll’s lawyers rested their case yesterday — the defendant’s capacity for restraints appears to be effectively over. As my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones noted, Trump, during a visit to Ireland, launched into another tirade about the case:
“It’s a disgrace that it’s allowed to happen. It’s called false accusations against a rich guy — or in my case, against a famous, rich and political person that’s leading the polls by 40 points. And I have to go back for a woman that made a false accusation about me, and I have a judge who’s extremely hostile. And I’m going to go back, and I’m going to confront this. This woman is a disgrace, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen in our country.”
It’s the kind of privileged whining that Kaplan apparently hoped not to hear before the trial’s end.
But just as notable as the entitled harangue was the timing of the former president’s rhetoric: As NBC News reported, Trump’s deposition in the case has returned to the fore.
Trump has decided not to take the witness stand in the trial over Carroll’s lawsuit alleging that he raped her in a department store in the 1990s and then defamed her by saying she made up the claims to make money. But portions of the former president’s sworn deposition were played for the jury by Carroll’s lawyer Wednesday and Thursday.
As part of the deposition, taken in October. Trump was played the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which the future president was heard boasting about his ability to grope and kiss women without waiting for their consent. “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said, including “grab ’em by the p—-.”
Asked about the remarks, Trump said in his deposition, “Well, historically, that’s true with stars.”
“True with stars that they can grab women” by their privates? Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan asked.
“Well, that’s what — if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true,” he replied. “Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.” How jurors responded to this remains an open question. As for the road ahead, Trump’s attorneys have said their client will not testify in the case, though the former president said while in Ireland yesterday that he’d “probably attend” the trial, though it was unclear in what capacity. The judge in the case has given Trump until 5 p.m. Sunday to make a final decision about whether to take the witness stand in his own defense. If he declines, closing arguments will proceed on Monday. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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