Judge snaps at Trump's legal team

By 
 January 19, 2024

A federal judge recently snapped at former President Donald Trump's legal team. 

The judge, according to CNBC, is Lewis Kaplan. Kaplan - a Clinton appointee - is currently overseeing the defamation lawsuit that E. Jean Carroll has brought against Trump.

The lawsuit is in the damages phase. It has already been determined that Trump defamed Carroll. The only remaining question is how much Trump must pay Carroll to remedy the situation.

Carroll claims that she is entitled to $10 million in compensatory damages and millions more in punitive damages. Trump disagrees. Rather, the former president maintains that he did not defame her.

"Come on!"

Kaplan has found himself in the news quite a bit recently. He has also found himself on the receiving end of some serious criticism from Trump. There will be more on this in a moment.

The latest incident took place on Thursday.

In the courtroom, on Thursday, Carroll took the stand, and she was being questioned by one of Trump's lawyers - Attorney Alina Habba - when Kaplan snapped at Habba.

"'Come on, this is Evidence 101!' said the judge, Lewis Kaplan, in response to defense lawyer Alina Habba’s questions about how much money Carroll currently makes," CNBC reports.

The outlet adds, "Kaplan also said Habba was being 'repetitious' by reciting a long list of posts on X, formerly Twitter, attacking Carroll in 2019 shortly after she first publicly accused Trump of raping her decades earlier."

Another hostile New York judge

In recent months, many news headlines have been dedicated to Judge Arthur Engoron, the New York judge overseeing the civil fraud trial that has been brought against Trump. The hostility that Engoron has exhibited toward Trump has been well documented.

It is a similar story with Kaplan, but it does not appear that Kaplan is quite on Engoron's level - although Kaplan certainly appears to be trying to get there.

In addition to snapping at Habba, Kaplan has also refused to postpone the trial following the death of Trump's mother-in-law. Then, there is the situation that took place in the courtroom on Wednesday.

Fox News reports:

A judge threatened to bar former President Trump from his civil trial in New York City on Wednesday over his loud reactions to E. Jean Carroll's testimony claiming he ruined her reputation after she accused him of sexual abuse. Judge Lewis Kaplan admonished Trump for his audible reactions to Carroll’s testimony in front of the jury, threatening that the former president could be barred from the trial if he continues.

Suffice it to say that Trump believes that Carroll and Kaplan are merely two more individuals who are looking to interfere with his presidential campaign. Trump has made his opinion about Kaplan and Carroll abundantly clear on his social media account, which can be found here.

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