“The Man Is a Monster, a Predator”: E. Carroll Successful in Preventing Trump’s Expert From Testifying in $10 Million Defamation Case

Jo ShawNov 13, 2023

Minute Read

In a recent ruling, E. Carroll’s lawyer has successfully prevented Trump’s expert witness, Fisher, from testifying in her second defamation lawsuit against Trump. Carroll won her first case after Trump called her allegations of sexual assault “a Hoax and a Lie” on his site Truth Social.

Carroll First Sued Trump Back in 2019

In 2019, Carroll, a former columnist for Elle, filed a lawsuit against Trump. The legal action stemmed from Trump’s assertion that she had fabricated her claim of sexual assault against him in the 1990s. Carroll initially made the accusation public through a published excerpt in New York Magazine as part of her memoir. This allegation was among the most significant in a series of harassment and assault claims made by women against Trump.

Carroll Was Fired From Elle Over the Allegations.

In February 2020, Carroll was fired from her position at Elle. She took to Twitter to announce her termination, stating it was “because Trump ridiculed my reputation, laughed at my looks, & dragged me through the mud.”

An Honorable Woman

At the same time, Carroll’s ex-husband Stephen Byres told the New York Times that his ex-wife was “a very honorable woman” and it was “inconceivable” that “she would make up a story like this.”

Trump Claimed He Didn’t Know Her.

During that period, Trump refuted the allegation, asserting that he had never met Carroll. However, she later released a photograph of them at a party a few years before the alleged assault. Trump accused her of exploiting the story to boost her book sales and insulted her by stating she wasn’t his “type.”

A Hoax and a Lie

Editorial credit: Potashev Aleksandr / Shutterstock.

Carroll emerged victorious in her defamation lawsuit against Trump. In May, a jury determined that he had defamed her the previous year by posting a statement on his Truth Social platform, denouncing her allegation as “a Hoax and a lie.”

Carroll Awarded $5 Million in Damages.

Carroll’s victory secured her $5 million in damages. Subsequently, she initiated a second defamation case, set to be heard in January next year.

Carroll Was Not Trump’s “Type”

The second defamation lawsuit relates to Trump’s statements to a White House reporter where he denied the assault and asserted that Carroll was not his “type.” This case also references Trump accusing Carroll of lying and calling her a “whack job” to CNN.

Carroll Is Not Required to Prove Defamation

In the second defamation case, Judge Kaplan has already decided that Ms. Carroll is not required to re-establish that Mr. Trump defamed her. Her sole obligation is to demonstrate the extent of damages he must compensate for his remarks.

Trumps Expert Witness Prevented From Testifying

At the beginning of October, Judge Kaplan approved Carroll’s motion to exclude Fisher, the expert witness proposed by Trump, whose role was to counter Carroll’s defamation expert.

Trump Trying to Claim Presidential Immunity

Image Credit: Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.

A lawyer for Trump argued before a federal appeals court that he should be permitted to invoke presidential immunity as a defense in the lawsuit. A panel of three judges inquired why Trump’s legal team had not raised the presidential immunity defense earlier in the course of the case.

District Court Rejected Immunity

After a district court judge denied Trump the opportunity to pursue an immunity defense, the former president appealed to the First Circuit. This decision was influenced, in part, by the fact that it took three years for Trump to raise the immunity defense.

Hanging On to Immunity.

Joshua Matz, Carroll’s Lawyer, said, “A party who believes they are hanging onto immunity does not behave the way it behaved.” Trump’s attorney, Michael Madaio, argued, “If this court does not overturn the lower court’s ruling, a President, for the first time in our nation’s history, will be held civilly liable for his official acts.”

Carroll’s Case Scheduled for January

The trial for Carroll’s second defamation case against Trump is set to take place in January of the upcoming year. The presiding judge has already ruled that Trump’s statements were defamatory, meaning the trial will focus solely on determining the damages. Carroll is seeking $10 million in compensation.

Jurors Will Be Kept Anonymous

Federal District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has recently decided that the jury of the upcoming trial will be kept anonymous.

Protecting the Jurors

The judge justified the decision by emphasizing the jurors’ safety, pointing to the potential for harassment from Trump’s supporters.

The Decision Was in Response to NY Trial.

In ruling for an anonymous jury, Kaplan highlighted that Mr. Trump had incurred fines twice for breaching a gag order imposed by the New York judge in Trump’s civil fraud trial. Kaplan also underscored the threatening letters and calls received by the court’s staff during the course of the trial.

The Most Raveled Defense

Users went online to comment on the latest news in the defamation case. One user posted, “It was the most raveled defense in the history of our country. Many people are saying it.”

The Man Is a Monster, a Predator

Another posted, “This case to me is as important as any of the others against him. There’s something about her story that rings true in such an awful way. The man is a monster, a predator … She’s an absolute hero.”