It was not just Donald Trump — his lawyers also got into several disputes with Judge Lewis Kaplan, including when they asked Kaplan to recuse himself after the exchange about possibly removing the former president from the courtroom.
Trump attorney Michael Madaio cited a “general hostility” toward Trump and his lawyers.
“Denied,” Kaplan said in response.
On Wednesday, Kaplan told Alina Habba to sit down after she tried yet again to get Kaplan to postpone the trial on Thursday so Trump could attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.
“I will hear no further argument on it. None. Do you understand that word? None. Please sit down,” Kaplan said.
“I don’t like to be spoken to that way,” Habba responded.
When Habba began her cross-examination of Carroll, the judge quickly interjected, admonishing the lawyer for raising an excerpt of Carroll’s 2022 deposition when he did not have a copy or know what lines Habba wanted to read from.
“Now look, Ms. Habba,” Kaplan said as Habba began to read from the transcript. “We’re going to do it my way in this courtroom, and that’s all there is to it.”
After Habba began reading from harassing messages Carroll received in 2019, before the messages had been entered into evidence, Kaplan called for a trial recess. “You should refresh your memory about how it is you get a document into evidence,” Kaplan said to her after the jury had left the courtroom.
Remember: Kaplan showed little patience for procedural missteps on either side, telling Carroll’s attorney at one point they could not see exhibits ahead of time to scan for potential redactions. “When the document is authenticated and offered that’s when you say objection and that’s when we deal with it,” Kaplan said.
