Trump Arrives In Court For E. Jean Carroll Trial After Iowa Win

Topline Former President Donald Trump arrived at a Manhattan federal courthouse Tuesday for the start of his second defamation trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll , hours after winning the Iowa caucuses, as the ex president could be ordered to pay more than $10 million in damages for attacking Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault.

Former President Donald Trump appears at a caucus night party in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 15. Key Facts Trump arrived before jury selection in the trial began at 9:30 a.m. in federal court, CNN and ABC News reported, after the ex president said on Truth Social Tuesday he was going to “fight against a FAKE Case from a woman I have never met, seen, or touched.” Reports first emerged Monday night that Trump planned to be in court, and the ex president confirmed on Truth Social on Tuesday he would attend the trial before campaigning in New Hampshire Tuesday night.

Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019 after alleging he sexually assaulted her in a dressing room in the 1990s, after which Trump made public comments saying he never met Carroll, denying her story and claiming she “wasn’t my type.” Trump has already been found liable for defaming Carroll and sexually assaulting her, after a separate lawsuit she brought against him went to trial in May 2023, and this trial will only determine how much Trump has to pay in damages—because the defamation allegations are so similar to the other case that Carroll doesn’t have to prove he defamed her again.

Trump has continued to deny the allegations against him and attack Carroll, but he cannot make such claims in court, as the judge in the case has already ruled that since Trump’s been found liable for sexual assault, he can’t defend himself at trial by claiming Carroll’s lying and he never met or assaulted her.

Big Number $10 million. That’s how much Carroll is asking the jury to award her in compensatory damages, plus an undisclosed amount in punitive damages—the sums are meant to deter Trump from defaming her again. Trump was previously ordered to pay $5 million in Carroll’s first trial against him.

What To Watch For The trial is expected to last for approximately five to seven days, according to court filings. Trump has suggested he could testify at the trial, but it’s not clear yet if he’ll definitely do so or when the testimony would take place. Carroll’s attorney warned the court in a filing that Trump could use his testimony to try and turn the court proceedings into a “circus” and asked for limits on his testimony to be imposed, like requiring him to agree under oath that he’s already been found liable for sexual assault.

Trump’s attorney Alina Habba opposed that request, accusing Carroll of trying to institute a “a kangaroo court … where a party to a lawsuit is involuntarily made to say what a court and an opposing party wants them to say.” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has said only that the court “will take such measures as it finds appropriate to avoid circumvention of its rulings and of the law.” Key Background Carroll first came forward with her allegations against Trump in 2019, alleging the then president had raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.

When Trump subsequently responded by attacking Carroll, she sued him for defamation. She then brought a second lawsuit in November 2022 accusing Trump of sexual assault and defamation under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which gave adult victims of sexual abuse one year to bring lawsuits over claims that were beyond the statute of limitations.

That case is the one that went to trial last year. This first lawsuit is going to trial after years of being tied up in the courts, as Trump unsuccessfully sought to have it thrown out because he claimed his 2019 statements about Carroll were undertaken within the scope of his official duties as president.

Tangent This is the second trial of Trump’s where he’s made appearances in court, following the civil fraud trial against him and his company that wrapped last week. Trump repeatedly appeared in court in that case, using his appearances to speak directly to reporters and call the case a “witch hunt,” and repeated those claims in court when he testified and then delivered his own closing arguments in the case.

Trump told reporters last week he plans to attend “all” his trials, as the ex president faces the likely possibility that all four of his criminal trials could begin in 2024. (He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.) Further Reading Trump Goes To Trial Against E. Jean Carroll—Again: Here’s What To Know (Forbes) Trump Gives His Own Closing Argument In Fraud Trial — Decries ‘Witch Hunt’ (Forbes) Trump Breezes To Victory In Iowa Caucuses Amid Lower Voter Turnout (Forbes).