The judge overseeing rape accuser E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against Donald Trump cancelled a scheduled court hearing Monday after a juror got sick and Trump lawyer Alina Habba got exposed to COVID-19.
The trial was thrown into chaos after the former president flew in from New Hampshire to attend the trial, with his lawyer indicating he intended to testify.
That would have represented a dramatic development after he declined to testify in his defense for a prior legal battle with Carroll, who accuses Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store decades ago.
But it was all thrown off schedule after Juror no. 3 reported feeling ‘hot and nauseous’ on the way into court and was told to stay away.
Lawyer Alina Habba, who is representing Trump in the case and who has been a fierce defender on TV, then revealed she had a fever after spending time with her parents, who both later turned out to have contracted the coronavirus.
Donald Trump heads to court in Manhattan where he could testify against E. Jean Carroll in the sex abuse defamation trial
In court Habba did not wear a mask and Trump, 77, who went through a battle with Covid while he was President, leaned in close to her face to talk to her.
She said that she had ‘exhibited fever’ in the last 48 hours and that she spent a few hours with her parents three days earlier, although she herself had tested negative for Covid.
Habba apologized to the court that she was ‘still in child mode’ as she had been having issues with her nanny.
Trump was flanked by Habba and another lawyer, Michael Madaio, who also was exposed, but who like Habba reported testing negative for COVID-19.
Habba said that Trump, who whispered in her ear seconds before, had reminded her that ‘tomorrow is the primary in New Hampshire’.
Habba said that Trump ‘planned to testify’ in court and had flown to New York to do so. She asked that the case be adjourned until Wednesday.
Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll, said that she wanted to continue as planned but Judge Kaplan sent the jury home for the day. Trump’s team registered its opposition to proceeding with eight of the nine jurors present.
The judge said to Habba that ‘I’m not going to decide right now’ whether Trump’s testimony could be put off until Wednesday, but raised the possibility that the trial could be scheduled at his convenience.
‘Circumstances may result in your getting what you ask for or maybe not,’ he said.
The sudden turn of events came after Trump headed to a Manhattan courthouse amid speculation that he might testify against his rape accuser E. Jean Carroll in the sex abuse defamation trial.
Donald Trump lawyer Alina Habba said in court she had been exposed to the coronavirus at a dinner with her parents. The judge cancelled court after a juror reported feeling ill
Habba appeared with Trump in court January 11. She said three days ago she had dinner with her parents who were later diagnosed with COVD-19. She said in court while seated next to Trump that she said that she had ‘exhibited fever’ in the last 48 hours
Presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan postponed the trial after a juror felt ill and Trump lawyer Alina Habba (standing next to Trump) reported having a fever and dining with her parents three days ago before they were diagnosed with covid
Judge Lewis Kaplan left open the possibility of postponing court until after the New Hampshire primary
Trump fumed about the proceedings online
Minutes after the judge cancelled court and told the courtroom that ‘we will take the day off,’ Trump began attacking his accuser online.
He also issued a long post about the postponment.
‘I traveled late last night from the Great State of New Hampshire to New York to attend one of the many Crooked Joe Biden-inspired Witch Hunt trials,’ he began. ‘Despite the fact that I was there, on time and on schedule, it was just learned that one of the jurors is, unfortunately, not feeling well, and for that reason, today’s session of the trial, having to do with a woman I know absolutely nothing about, has therefore been cancelled with a new date to be determined.’ Trump didn’t mention that his own lawyers had also reported exposure to COVID-19.
The former president left Trump Tower and headed downtown just hours after flying in from a New Hampshire rally just 24 hours before Tuesday’s Republican primary, where he spoke against the case and publicly went after his accuser.
He walked out of Trump Tower on Monday morning with a closed fist, days after he showed off red marks that turned out to be papercuts.
The frontrunner in the GOP race has been in and out of court during the dramatic trial where the judge has threatened to remove him for complaining too loudly.
His lawyer Alina Habba has also been involved in tense exchanges over her motions to dismiss the case and delay the trial so Trump could go to his mother-in-law’s funeral.
Trump attended the service on Thursday while Carroll testified and the case went on without him.
Because a different jury found last year that Trump sexually abused Carroll, U.S. District Judge Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has ruled that if the former president takes the stand now, he won’t be allowed to say she concocted her allegation or that she was motivated by financial or political considerations.
Trump raised the possibility he might testify, speaking about the case at a Sunday night rally in New Hampshire.
‘They are weaponizing law enforcement at a level like never before, and it’s all high-level election interference,’ he said. ‘You know where I’m going to be? I don’t have to be there, but I want to be there, because otherwise I can’t get a fair shake. I’m going to be in court.’
His comments drew jeers from a rally crowd.
‘I could use your prayers,’ he said when an audience member yelled out.
‘A totally fabricated story. It’s all fabricated,’ he said. “I have like eight of them. Civil cases. All kinds of cases … this is equal opportunity. We have every kind of case you can have. We have all kinds of cases.
Without the opportunity to testify under oath, which many legal experts doubted Trump would actually seize, the former president took to his Truth Social site to attack his accuser.
‘E. Jean Carroll was forced to change her story on the “Monica Lewinsky-type” dress. She originally claimed that the “event” happened in 1994, and that she wore the Donna Karan dress on that day. The problem is that New York Times Fact Checkers found the dress wasn’t even made by Donna Karan until long after 1994. The truth is that she doesn’t know the day, month, season, year, or decade – because it did not happen. End this Witch Hunt now!’ Trump wrote.
He also reposted years-old tweets posted by Carroll, a writer and former advice columnist, that referenced sex. Then, after a series of posts about his accuser, Trump reposted former first lady Melania Trump’s post about her late mother.
‘We love you Babi, and miss you!’ Trump wrote.
Even while just watching the proceedings, the voluble ex-president and current Republican front-runner hasn’t checked his contempt for the case.
Writing on her Civil Discourse blog, former prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote that a Trump testifying can only end badly as the trial is to see who much in damages he must pay Carroll.
While Carroll (pictured) testified last week, Trump complained to his lawyers about a ‘witch hunt’ and a ‘con job’ loudly enough so that the judge threatened to throw Trump out of the courtroom if he kept it up
Trump had to travel by protesters at the courthouse
Another jury found Trump committed sexual abuse but did not reach a finding of rape
‘The smart money says there’s no way that his lawyers would expose him to cross-examination at the hands of Carroll’s highly competent legal team,’ she wrote.
‘Only the amount of damages is in question, and that’s not a topic Trump’s testimony is particularly helpful with; he can only make it worse. Those damages probably go higher if Trump takes the stand and acts in his predictable fashion,’ Vance added.
While Carroll testified last week, he complained to his lawyers about a ‘witch hunt’ and a ‘con job’ loudly enough so that the judge threatened to throw Trump out of the courtroom if he kept it up.
Trump piped down and stayed in court, then held a news conference where he deplored the ‘nasty judge.’
‘It´s a disgrace, frankly, what´s happening,’ Trump told reporters, repeating his claim that Carroll’s allegation was ‘a made-up, fabricated story.’
Besides tangling with Kaplan, Trump bucked the New York state judge in his recent civil business fraud trial involving claims that he inflated his wealth.
Trump waves to his supporters as he walks out of his midtown Manhattan property on Monday morning to head to his motorcade
Trump headed to court in Manhattan on the day before the New Hampshire primary
Trump was greeted by protesters amid speculation about whether he would take the stand
The former president, 77, left Trump Tower and headed downtown just hours after flying in from a New Hampshire rally just 24 hours before Tuesday’s Republican primary
Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, delivered a brief closing argument of sorts without committing to rules for summations and assailed the judge from the witness stand.
He also was fined a total of $15,000 for what the judge deemed violations of a gag order concerning comments about court staffers. Trump’s attorneys are appealing the order.
In Carroll’s case, her lawyers have implored the judge to make Trump swear, before any testimony, that he understands and accepts the court´s restrictions on what he can say.
‘There are any number of reasons why Mr. Trump might perceive a personal or political benefit from intentionally turning this trial into a circus,’ attorney Roberta Kaplan wrote in a letter to the judge, who is no relation.
His return to a courtroom once again comes at a high-point on the political calendar. Trump faces former UN Ambassasdor Nikki Haley in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, which may be her best shot to try to seize momentum after he romped over GOP rivals in Iowa.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dramatically dropped out of the race Sunday. He has previously said Trump’s four criminal indictments and the cases against him fueled Trump through the primaries and denied ‘oxygen’ to other candidates.