U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan erupted at Trump lawyer Alina Habba when she asked for an adjournment of E. Jean Carroll's second defamation trial against the former president, which began on Tuesday. Habba asked Kaplan to delay the proceedings so that Trump could attend his mother-in-law's funeral, a request which Kaplan sharply denied. Politico reporter Erica Orden captured the "VERY testy exchange" live from the Manhattan courtroom and shared it on X/Twitter.
"The application is denied. I will hear no further argument on it," Kaplan told Habba, who then attempted to continue speaking.
"None. Do you understand that word? Sit down," Kaplan reiterated.
"I don't like to be spoken to that way, your honor," Trump's lawyer replied. Orden noted that Habba pressed Kaplan, and continued asking for an adjournment.
"It’s denied. Sit down," Kaplan said, cutting her off.
As noted by CNBC, Kaplan has rejected Habba's request to push the trial several times. Trump, who was present for part of Tuesday's trial, has continued to make defamatory statements about Carroll, the columnist who claimed that Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York City department store dressing room in the 1990s. In May, a jury ordered the ex-president to pay Carroll $5 million after finding him liable of sexually abusing and defaming her. Since that decision, however, Trump has continued to assert his innocence and publicly called Carroll a liar. This latest trial stems from Trump's persistent slandering of the writer, and could potentially see her awarded even more financial damages.
