Trump is desperately trying to block this expert witness in E. Jean Carroll case
Ashlee Humphreys, a Northwestern University professor known for her expertise on marketing and social media, was among the witnesses in former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss' defamation lawsuit against ex- New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani — which ended with a jury awarding them $148 million in damages.
Humphreys is also an expert witness in another defamation lawsuit: former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll's latest defamation case against former President Donald Trump. But according to the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery, Trump and his legal team are "desperately" fighting to block her testimony.
Pagliery, in an article published on December 19, reports that Humphrey's testimony could be used to determine the amount of damages that Trump owes — which, according to Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan, is why Trump and his legal team want to block her as a witness.
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In a court filing, Kaplan noted the damages Giuliani owes in the Freeman/Moss defamation case and wrote, "Trump is understandably desperate to get rid of Professor Humphreys…. The only issue at the upcoming trial is the amount of damages that Carroll is entitled to receive. Professor Humphreys will be critical to Carroll's case, and Trump's own expert has already been disqualified."
Kaplan continued, "That Professor Humphreys recently testified in another case that resulted in a $108 million defamation verdict likely adds to Trump's sense of urgency."
Pagliery notes that Humphreys has "shown herself uniquely suited to slapping a dollar figure on MAGA World misconduct."
"At Giuliani's D.C. trial last week, she told jurors that the disgraced former New York mayor had so severely damaged the reputations of Georgia poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss that it would take anywhere between $17 million and $47 million to help them recover," the Daily Beast reporter observes. "Days later, jurors awarded them each more than $16 million for that very task — plus another $75 million as a punishment for the conspiracy-spreading disbarred lawyer."
READ MORE: Star witnesses: How Giuliani's $148 million defamation case could be very bad news for Trump
The Daily Beast's full report is available at this link (subscription required).