Donald Trump Evidence Tossed Out of Court by Judge

The judge overseeing the defamation lawsuit filed against Donald Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll has rejected some evidence the former president planned to introduce during the civil trial as it was found to be “irrelevant” to the case.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on Sunday that Trump’s legal team cannot present an interview to the jury that Carroll did with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2019 or suggest that Carroll hoped to “garner media attention” for her book in order to boost sales as a way to discredit her.

The former Elle columnist is suing Trump over claims he defamed her character while denying that he sexually assaulted her at a New York department store dressing room in the 1990s, including saying in 2019 that “she’s not my type,” and that Carroll made up the attack to sell copies of her book. Kaplan ruled in September 2023 that Trump had defamed Carroll and the civil trial that is to begin on Tuesday, January 16, will serve to determine the damages the latter is owed.

The lawsuit is separate from another, a sexual battery and defamation suit, filed by Carroll in which a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll at a Bergdorf Goodman store and then defaming her by denying the assault took place. A jury ordered the former president pay Carroll $5 million in damages in May 2023.

Ahead of the civil trial, Kaplan said that Trump’s lawyers could not try and argue to the jury that the former president did not rape or sexually assault Carroll, as it was not relevant to the defamation case.

Carroll’s lawyers then wrote to the judge accusing the former president’s attorneys of trying to “circumvent” the ruling by introducing evidence that would try and “prejudice” Carroll’s versions of events or attack her character.

This includes a 2019 interview Carroll did on CNN in which she said that “most people think of rape as sexy” and they “think of the fantasies.” Trump has frequently misconstrued these comments to suggest that Carroll enjoyed being sexually assaulted, or thinks rape is “sexy” rather than discussing views others may hold.

In a court memo issued on Sunday, Kaplan said Carroll’s 2019 interview will not be admissible as evidence in the defamation case as the court has already ruled that Trump is prohibited from trying to contend that he did not sexually assault Carroll.

“This trial is limited to the issue of damages sustained as a result of the defendant’s June 21 and 22, 2019 statements. Those statements already have been determined to have been false, defamatory, and made with constitutional actual malice,” Kaplan wrote.

“The introduction of the Anderson Cooper 360 video needlessly and confusingly would invite the jury to decide this case on the basis of defendant’s view that those issues are open to discussion or reconsideration. They are not.”

Kaplan also rejected evidence which relates to Carroll appearing in the media to promote her 2019 book, What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal, where she detailed the assault against her.

“The exhibits show no more than that Ms. Carroll, like any author of a new book, was eager in July and September, 2019 to garner media attention for her book in order to drive sales,” Kaplan said. “They are not probative, at least to any material extent, of whether and to what extent Mr. Trump’s June 21 and 22, 2019 defamatory statements caused reputational or emotional damage to Ms. Carroll.”

Trump’s legal team has been contacted for comment via email.

The judge did reject the request to prevent Trump’s lawyers to call on Carol Martin, who previously testified in the sexual battery trial that the former Elle columnist confided in her shortly after the attack, as a witness in the defamation case.

Kaplan said that Carroll’s attorneys were unable to show that Martin would not be able to present any admissible testimony if she took the stand, and that they will have the opportunity to object to any part of her testimony from being admissible during the proceedings if she is called as a witness.

Trump is not under obligation to attend the civil trial in New York, although he has indicated he will do so at some point, including to possibly testify in his defense.

Trump is currently on the campaign trail in Iowa ahead of the first-in-the-nation GOP caucus on Monday night.

Kaplan has already ruled that Trump defamed Carroll with his 2019 comments, and the upcoming civil trial will mainly determine how much in damages Trump will have to pay Carroll.