E. Jean Carroll explained to the jury her 2019 book, “What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal,” and how she came to include Donald Trump in it.
Carroll is testifying in this civil trial to decide how much money in damages, if any, former President Donald Trump must pay for his 2019 defamatory statements about her sexual assault allegations against him.
“I was overwhelmed with the honesty of these women, and I thought, my God, I’m such a hypocrite. They’re telling me their opinions. I’m holding back, and then I said I’m 95 years old. If I don’t do it now, I will never do it,” Carroll said, exaggerating about her age.
Judge Lewis Kaplan stopped Carroll, granting an objection from Trump’s lawyer, when the writer began to describe the altercation she says she had with Trump in the 1990s at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman.
The judge instructed the jury they’ve already been told the facts they’re expected to accept.
The tension between Judge Kaplan and Alina Habba continues. Habba objected to an answer from Carroll that speculated on what women felt who she interviewed for the book.
“First of all, when you speak in this courtroom or any courtroom in this building you’ll stand up,” the judge admonished Trump’s lawyer.
Judge Kaplan also cautioned Carroll again to answer the questions as they’re asked.
