After the court ended Wednesday, former President Trump accused the presiding judge of ruling against him because he was an appointee of former President Clinton.
Trump made headlines throughout the day as he attended a trial to determine how much compensation he would be liable to pay for defamation of author E. Jean Carroll, claiming he raped her.
U.S. District Judge Louis A. Kaplan at one point threatened to remove Mr. Trump from the court, claiming he was causing chaos.
Trump lashed out at Kaplan on camera after the meeting. Kaplan had already been critical on social media.
“He's a mean judge. He's a guy who hates Trump. And that's clear to everyone on the court. Frankly, what's going on is a disgrace. It's a disgrace. “It happened to be a Clinton appointment, but I'm sure it had nothing to do with that,” Trump said sarcastically.
President Trump claims the trial should have been postponed so he could attend the funeral of former first lady Melania Trump's mother.
Trump's lawyers announced they had requested a “one-week delay” to the trial so the former president could travel with his family and attend his funeral on Wednesday and Thursday. on court documents. Mr. Kaplan denied the request, but he said: in a memorandum On Sunday, President Trump announced that he was “free to attend the funeral, the trial, or both.”
He also noted that Trump's lawyers informed the court that Trump would appear at the trial “three days after the announcement of his mother's death and the day before the defense requested it.”
“What has happened so badly is that we are asking them to please delay the trial for just one day so we can go to the funeral tomorrow, and then they can start the trial on Friday or Monday or whenever they want. And he said, “Absolutely not.'' The trial will continue. You can go to a funeral or you can go to court, but you can't do both,” Trump said of Kaplan.
“So he'd rather you miss the funeral or go to the funeral or miss the trial. And that's a disgusting guy. A mean judge. He's a Trump hater. ” Trump added.
Kaplan said in a memo that if Trump's defense team completes non-testimony arguments on Thursday, the court will suspend the trial until next Monday to allow Trump to attend his funeral.
Trump's trial over the defamation damages sought by Carroll began on Tuesday. Carroll is seeking at least $10 million in damages for Trump's denials when she publicly came forward in 2019 to accuse him of sexually assaulting her in a department store fitting room in 1996. ing.
In the days leading up to the trial and since it began, President Trump has hurled insults at Kaplan over her refusal to accept Trump's request to delay the trial.
Following Mr. Trump's comments in court Wednesday, Mr. Kaplan threatened to remove Mr. Trump from the courtroom.
Carroll's lawyers suggested in a letter to Kaplan last week that Trump's legal team had misrepresented the former president's need to delay his trial. Carroll's lawyer said Trump's team said Wednesday that he would be “travelling with his family,” but Carroll's lawyer said Trump would travel to New Hampshire that night to campaign. He pointed out that he was deaf.
Amalia Knabs' funeral is scheduled for Thursday in Florida. President Trump has a campaign event scheduled for Wednesday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, according to his campaign website.
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