The more I learn about Donald Trump the more I come to believe that great wealth is as much of a curse as it is a blessing. Or, let me put it this way: great wealth coupled with even greater stupidity is an absolute curse. The E. Jean Carroll case was one for the books yesterday, with a defendant/judge interaction that I daresay has never been recorded before by any court reporter.
DONALD TRUMP: [Muttering loudly during the testimony of rape-victim E. Jean Carroll “con job”… “witch-hunt”.]
ATTORNEY: [Objects that the jury can hear Trump’s outbursts.]
JUDGE KAPLAN: Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited, and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive.
[Turns to Trump] Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial. I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that.
TRUMP: [Throws up hands] I would love it. I would love it.
JUDGE KAPLAN: I know you would. I know you would. You just can’t control yourself in this circumstance, apparently.
TRUMP: You can’t either.
Now if you think that’s incredible, hold my beer.
They're back.
Judge Kaplan: I understand there is an application.
Trump's lawyer Madaio: We move for recusal. Shawn Crowley is a former law clerk, you accepted her representation… There is an atmosphere of hostility.
Judge Kaplan: Denied.— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 17, 2024
Shawn Crowley is one of E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers. The inference is that the lawyers and the judge are in cahoots and it’s all part of the vast cosmic conspiracy against Donald Trump. Ergo, the judge should be removed for bias. Now, here’s the gimmick: a defendant can move to have another judge assigned if they feel that there is something not completely above board about a situation. But mid-trial is not the time to do it. You do that at the beginning, when a judge has been assigned. But, then again, this is Trump world, a dimension which exists parallel to what you and I call the Real World and occasionally the two intersect and when they do, it’s a disaster. Here are a few other tidbits from yesterday, just so you get the flavor.
RK: What an excerpt published?
Carroll: June 21, 2019 in New York Magazine.
RK: What time of day?
Carroll: The NYT was going to publish an article about the book, that caused NY Magazine to rush it out on Friday, in the afternoon. They jumped the gun— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 17, 2024
RK: Had you told anyone publicly the story about Mr. Trump?
Carroll: No.
RK: Did it factor in, that he was President?
Carroll: Yes. I went ahead and did it.
RK: Did you expect him to respond?
Carroll: I thought he'd say it was consensual.— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 17, 2024
“She is waiving the ability for me to cross-examine.” What does that even mean? A waiver is a voluntary relinquishment of a known right. How you can “waive an ability” is utterly beyond me. But I would not blame the judge if he unscrewed his head, left it on the bench, and just walked out headless. Because I’m sure that the thought has crossed his mind. WTF is Habba talking about and where did she learn these legal terms of art? And then dear God, it gets even worse.
RK: Have you paid dearly?
Carroll: Just about as dearly as it is possible to pay.
RK: What is this document?
Carroll: An announcement by the Office of the Press Secretary.
RK: Move to admit.
Judge Kaplan: Received.— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 17, 2024
“She is not a lawyer,” is an objection now? Clearly it’s not. Clearly, it’s bullshit. And the judge shot it down at once. Habba is simply incredible. She is a TV lawyer. In the post I did here yesterday about the trial, there was a Twitter comment from a person who said that her sister, who was a criminal lawyer, would call her everyday screaming about Habba. I totally get that. This is so not how you do it.
RK: What about paying dearly?
Carroll: He said people like me should tread carefully –
Habba: Objection
Judge Kaplan: Overruled.
RK: What is the context of these statements by Mr. Trump?
Carroll: He's on his way to the helicopter, questions from journalists— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 17, 2024
Judge Kaplan is just shooting Habba down now and not even giving her the courtesy of asking her to explain her objection. She’s not deserving of that courtesy. If she could do it the right way, “objection/overbroad” or anything normal, it would be a different story. Habba’s playing TV lawyer and that’s that.
Carroll: He said, I'm not his type. Meaning, I'm too ugly-
Habba: Objection – speculation.
Judge Kaplan: Overruled. You can cross examine.
Carroll: The president called me a liar 26 times. It ended the world I had been living in. I'm in a new world.— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 17, 2024
You can go into the Twitter thread and read more but this is the gist of it. The trial is a farce. Trump will not be at trial today because he’s busy at the funeral of his mother-in-law, ostensibly. I say ostensibly because my belief is that he’s exhausted and he’s going to crash and burn once he gets back to Florida. Nobody can keep up this grueling pace of going from trial to rally, let alone somebody in his condition.
WTF is it about republicans, con, xtian, whatever, and their little fee fees? I have never, NEVER seen such a bunch of snowflakes thinking they’re about to fall on an iron smelter f.f.s. 24/7. I don’t care what it is, they feel they’ve been wronged.
Of course, when OUR SIDE complains about legitimate problems and issues (like systemic racism practices, tyrannical TwitterX crap, etc), we get called “snowflakes.”
“We don’t care about your feelings ” Oh, wait….that only applies to non-Trumpers. And another judge issues ANOTHER “threat” that’s worth piss-all. No follow through. We’d be tossed out on our ass. GUARANTEED.
I don’t think she is faking being smart very well.
The more he flaps his gums, the smarter she us.
How can you fake something you don’t know anything about?
You can’t really fake being smart, but then thisis Dunning-Kruger effect. When someone thinks they are smart because they are too stupid to realize how stupid they really are!
I am reminded of the numerous filibusters in Congress.
Carroll not being a lawyer has no effect on her ability to testify not does it affect Habba’s,ability to cross examines. In fact the judge ruled in the dimwit’s favor when he told the jury that some of the statements had no bearing on the case because it was carefully limited to certain 2019 statements when Trump was president. The context is important for those statements because a president issuing statements through the White House press office is different than Joe Schmo the butcher saying it. Just the accusation of sexual.harassment, let alone rape, has ended political.careers. Ask Exp governor Cuomo about vthat. Ask Chris, his brother.
I am.only a paralegal but I could so a better job defending Trump. This is what you get when even mob lawyers refuse to represent you and you pick someone for her looks rather than her experience, from among the few who.might agree to take your case. lawyer