Former President Donald Trump, who was present on Wednesday for writer E. Jean Carroll's testimony in her second defamation case against him, has been engaging in some sideline commentary, according to CNN.
CNN's Kara Scannell reported that the former president shook his head while Carroll testified that he had assaulted her in a New York City department store dressing room in the 1990s. Carroll at the start of her time on the witness stand, asserted, “I’m here because I was assaulted by Donald Trump. And when I wrote about it, he said it never happened. He lied and he shattered my reputation.”
"So, right as E. Jean Carroll said that Donald Trump, who was facing her sitting at least three tables back from her," Scannell said, "he was shaking his head side to side in a sign that it never happened. And this is, of course, the issue in this case."
"I mean, there’s been a lot of objections so far during the trial, but Donald Trump otherwise is sitting straight ahead. He’s passed a few notes to his attorneys, leaned over to his lead attorney, Alina Habba, whispering to her a few times, but no other grand reaction. It was just that first statement with Carroll saying, what happened? Trump shaking his head side to side, that it didn’t."
After the jury left the room during a recess, Carroll attorney Shawn Crowley complained to the judge that Trump was muttering loud enough for the jury to hear him allege that Carroll's testimony was false and that she had "suddenly gotten her memory back," according to Politico's Erica Orden.
Before the jury re-entered, Kaplan warned Trump: "I’m just going to ask that Mr. Trump take special care to keep his voice down when he’s conferring with counsel so that the jury does not overhear it."
