As the trial in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against Donald Trump nears its endpoint, there’s been some question as to whether the jury would hear direct testimony from the former president himself. The Republican’s attorneys had already told the judge in the case that the defendant would not testify.
But their client soon after complicated matters a bit. While in Ireland last week, Trump told reporters that he’d “probably attend” the trial — he did not say in what capacity — adding, “I have to go back. ... I’m going to go back, and I’m going to confront this.”
These comments led U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan to believe the former president might, in fact, want to testify, so the judge created another opportunity for the defendant: Trump had until late yesterday afternoon to make a final decision about whether to take the witness stand in his own defense.
As Politico reported, the Republican has apparently decided to pass.
Former President Donald Trump rejected his last chance Sunday to testify at a civil trial where a longtime advice columnist has accused him of raping her in a luxury department store dressing room in 1996. ... It was not a surprise. Trump has not shown up once during the two-week Manhattan trial where writer E. Jean Carroll testified for several days, repeating claims she first made publicly in a 2019 memoir. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages totaling millions of dollars.
By all accounts, this was the course Trump’s lawyers urged him to take. In fact, there’s reason to believe that Joe Tacopina, who’s representing the former president in this case, isn’t altogether pleased with his client’s recent antics.
After Trump’s confrontational vow on Thursday, Tacopina reportedly tried to assure the judge that his client’s rhetoric had no practical meaning. “I know you understand what I am dealing with,” the lawyer told Kaplan.
There’s also an unconfirmed report that Tacopina threatened to quit if Trump insisting on testifying, though it’s difficult to say with confidence whether such chatter is true.
So where does that leave us? We now know that jurors won’t hear directly from the defendant, but as part of the trial, they were shown excerpts from Trump’s deposition, which was taken and recorded last fall.
This isn’t likely to help the former president’s defense. I’m still struck by what transpired during the deposition when Trump was played the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which the future president was heard boasting about his ability to grope and kiss women without waiting for their consent. “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said, including “grab ’em by the p----.”
Asked about the remarks, Trump said in his deposition, “Well, historically, that’s true with stars.”
“True with stars that they can grab women” by their privates? Carroll’s lawyer asked.
“Well, that’s what — if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true,” he replied. “Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.”
Why he thought to add “or fortunately” to his comments is unclear.
By way of a follow-up question, Carroll’s lawyer asked, “Do you consider yourself to be a star?” Trump replied, “I think you could say that, yeah.”
To summarize, according to his own sworn deposition, Trump considers himself a star, and he believes it’s “largely true” that stars have been able to get away with assaulting women “over the last million years ... unfortunately or fortunately.”
In the same deposition, Trump confused Carroll with his second wife — undermining his indefensible rhetoric about his “type” — and struggled to remember the details of his adulterous past.
We now know these are the only comments jurors in the case will have heard from the defendant ahead of their deliberations.
Closing arguments are scheduled to begin today. Watch this space.