Trump walks out on opponent’s closing at defamation trial but returns to hear his lawyer
NEW YORK — Donald Trump stormed out of closing arguments at his defamation trial Friday as a lawyer for E. Jean Carroll urged a jury to award at least $24 million in damages for the “storm of hate” caused by the former president as he reacted to her sexual assault accusation. He later returned to the courtroom.
Just minutes after attorney Roberta Kaplan began her closing argument in Manhattan federal court, Trump suddenly rose from his seat at the defense table and walked toward the exit, pausing to scan the packed courtroom as members of the Secret Service leaped up to follow him out.
The unexpected departure prompted Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to speak up, briefly interrupting the closing argument to note: “The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom.”
The walkout came only minutes after the judge, without the jury present, threatened to send Trump attorney Alina Habba to jail for continuing to talk when he told her she was finished.
“You are on the verge of spending some time in the lockup. Now sit down,” the judge told Habba, who immediately complied.
Roberta Kaplan and the judge are unrelated.
Trump, who was not required to attend the civil lawsuit proceedings, had appeared agitated all morning, vigorously shaking his head as Carroll’s attorney branded him a liar who had incited a “social media mob” to attack her client.
“This case is about punishing Donald Trump for what he’s done and what he continues to do,” Roberta Kaplan continued. “This trial is about getting him to stop.”
Later, Trump returned to the courtroom to hear Habba argue that he should not be made to pay Carroll for comments that set off hate messages from strangers.
Habba showed the jury a video in which Trump said a jury’s verdict last year finding he had sexually abused Carroll was “a disgrace” and “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
“You know why he has not wavered?” Habba asked the jury. “Because it’s the truth.”
That statement prompted an objection that the judge sustained with a warning that “if you violate my instructions again, Ms. Habba, you may have consequences.”
Nine jurors will start deliberating whether Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, is entitled to more than the $5 million she was awarded in a separate trial last year.