Defiant Trump takes legal risk on stand in New York

defamation trial

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By Brandon Livesay and Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court in New York
Donald Trump has testified in the defamation trial brought by writer E
Jean Carroll, but his much-anticipated time on the stand was kept brief.
The civil trial focuses on defamatory comments Mr Trump made about Ms
Carroll in 2019 while in the White House.
He was found liable of sexually assaulting Ms Carroll in the 1990s, though he
continues to deny the attack.
But it is for that reason, the court had to spend much time debating the scope of
his testimony on Thursday.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, insisted that the former US
president limit the topics he discussed on the stand, since a separate trial found
him liable of sexually assaulting Ms Carroll.

That resulted in the judge and lawyers spending much

more time arguing about what Mr Trump would be allowed
to talk about when compared to his four minutes of
testimony.
Judge Kaplan said the first trial established the facts and
the only issue remaining was how much Mr Trump must
pay Ms Carroll, if anything.
He left no room for the current Republican presidential
frontrunner to go beyond the agreed terms, making it
impossible for him to launch into a monologue or to
campaign from the witness stand.
It's perhaps a lesson learned from one of Mr Trump's other
legal battles. In a New York civil fraud trial earlier this month,
Mr Trump was initially told he could not give his closing
argument. The judge in that case asked whether Mr Trump
would keep it short and stick to the matters of the case.

Mr Trump responded with a six-minute monologue in

which he argued he was a victim of political persecution.
The defamation trial on Thursday gave the 77-year-old
much less leeway.
Asked if he stood by his deposition, Mr Trump said: "100%
yes."
His lawyer Alina Habba then asked if he denied Ms
Carroll's accusation. "That's exactly right, yes I did," he
responded.
He went on to say "she said something that I considered a
false accusation - totally false".
But Judge Kaplan quickly cut Mr Trump off and told the
jury to ignore that last statement.
Finally, Ms Habba asked if her client had ever instructed
anyone to hurt Ms Carroll, to which Mr Trump said: "No, I
just wanted to defend myself, my family and frankly, the
presidency." The judge again ordered the latter part
stricken from the record.

And with that, the testimony was over. A reporter with

WCBS heard Mr Trump say as he left the courtroom: "It's
not America. This is not America."
Earlier in the day, Judge Kaplan warned him to stop
interrupting proceedings by "talking loudly". That included
a moment when he was heard muttering under his breath
that he had "never met this woman [Ms Carroll]".

But it's somewhat familiar territory when watching one of

Mr Trump's trials. While in court, he has often tested its
limits and taken significant legal risks.
Testifying outside of the limitations outlined by the judge
on Thursday could have theoretically caused Mr Trump to
face hefty fines or even five years in prison for perjury.
But playing by his own rules is keeping Mr Trump's base
invested and tuned into his legal troubles.
And more importantly, it's leading to considerable press
coverage at a particularly important time for the
politician. After the New Hampshire primary brought him
another significant win, the former New York real estate
mogul appears set to become the Republican presidential
nominee.

Ronnell Andersen Jones, a professor of law at the

University of Utah, told BBC News this case shows the
"wide gap" between Mr Trump's strategies in court and on
the campaign trail.
While the former president and his lawyers may want to
convince the jury that his comments in the White House
did not show "ill will that warrants punitive damages",
that is easier said than done considering his actions.
"This will be a hard row to hoe, given that this same jury is
daily receiving new evidence that the defendant, outside
the courtroom, continues to spread the lie undeterred," Ms
Jones said.
The defamation trial will resume on Friday at 09:30 ET
(14:30 GMT) with closing arguments. It is not yet known if
Mr Trump will attend.