Trump's fraud trial stunt was just used against him in another case: expert
Donald Trump may be proud of a stunt he pulled at his civil fraud trial during closing arguments, but one legal expert pointed out Friday that the former president is already paying a price in another major case.
Trump, who is currently facing several criminal indictments, had his day in court for his alleged civil fraud. During the end of that trial, however, he snuck his way into delivering parting words based on his political agenda, something Justice Engoron previously vowed he wouldn't let happen.
In this way, Trump "steamrolled" the judge, but that won't happen again, MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin said on Friday.
"Over the past few months, we've seen how events in one Trump lawsuit can have reverberations in others of those cases. And it's happened again, this time in [E. Jean Carroll's] second defamation trial, which opens Tuesday," the lawyer wrote. "Given Trump's continued defamation of their client and his pledge to attend this next trial, Carroll's team understandably paid close attention to yesterday's closing arguments in the New York Attorney General's civil fraud case."
According to Rubin, they saw the "steamrolling" and wanted to head it off in their own case.
ALSO READ: How Trump's campaign visits cost local police departments
"They noted, as [Chris Hayes] and I discussed last night, that despite initial tough talk, Judge Arthur Engoron ultimately agreed to reconsider whether to allow Trump to offer some closing words, only to be steamrolled by the man himself," she added. "Both because federal court practice is so different and because Judge Lew Kaplan is, in fact, no pushover, I would not expect a similar spectacle in his courtroom. But Robbie Kaplan, Carroll's lead lawyer, is taking no chances."
She continued:
"Instead, attaching the email exchange between Engoron & his team in the civil fraud case, as well as excerpts from Trump's own courtroom rant yesterday, she wrote to Judge Kaplan today... Yes, she acknowledged, based on Judge Kaplan's prior rulings about what's already been established and what evidence will and will not be allowed, it's unclear what relevant testimony Trump even can offer."
If Trump does show up, Rubin said, they will be prepared.
"But if he does show up to testify, Carroll's team wants the court to be ready. First, they've asked that Trump affirm, on the record and under oath, that he understands the limits on his testimony, including not contesting that he sexually assaulted and then defamed Carroll," Rubin wrote. "Second, to the extent that Trump testifies but nonetheless breaches the limits or otherwise engages in 'improper conduct,' they urge Judge Kaplan to think *now* about the various remedies at his disposal."