Donald Trump finally took the stand Thursday in his own defense during the second defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll. But, surprisingly, Trump’s much anticipated time on the witness stand lasted a whopping three minutes — at most.
Trump’s attorney Alina Habba initially attempted to convince Judge Lewis Kaplan to permit her to ask Trump at least three questions. She even argued that she had the right to ask about Trump’s intent behind making his defamatory statements, but Kaplan shot her down and told her that he alone would decide what Trump had the right to do in court, admonishing Habba that it was his job, not hers.
Trump’s much anticipated time on the witness stand lasted a whopping three minutes — at most.
In the end, Kaplan only allowed the following line of questioning to Trump: “You viewed your deposition?” to which Trump responded: “I stand by it 100%, yes.” And, “Did you instruct anyone to hurt Ms. Carroll?” to which Trump responded: “No,” with some more words — but the judge struck the rest of his testimony after the word “no” and instructed the jury to disregard it.
So why even bother to take the stand to testify if it was going to be so short? I think Trump thought he might be able to get away with more than he was able to do. I also think he’s been trying to intimidate Carroll by being physically present in the courtroom. Furthermore, Trump basically only testifying that he stood by his sworn deposition is one way to back-door in his denials of liability for the sexual abuse and the defamation.
Recall that Trump’s liability was already determined prior to this trial, based upon the jury’s verdict from the first defamation trial. Kaplan reinforced that there would be “no do-overs” by Trump, meaning Trump was already limited going into this trial with what evidence he could present in his defense. But let’s not forget: In his first defamation trial, Trump was listed as a defense witness and he…
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