Former White House Counsel Ty Cobb has harshly criticized former President Donald Trump's behavior in court during the libel trial involving E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s.
“This is the worst time for President Trump. I don't think we'll see much change between now and November,” Cobb said in an interview Wednesday on CNN's “Erin Burnett Outfront.”
Earlier in the day, Trump was accused of being “obstructive” during court proceedings to determine how much compensation a magazine reporter is liable for defaming a magazine reporter by denying rape claims. He was reprimanded by a New York federal judge.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan threatened to remove Mr. Trump from the courtroom after he repeatedly spoke about the incident to his lawyer at a volume that jurors could hear and ignored a cease and desist order. He reportedly said Carroll was lying about the assault and called the trial a “witch hunt” and “the work of a con man.”
A jury previously found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation of Carroll, but found insufficient evidence to prove he raped her. Trump has denied her wrongdoing.
“Mr. And if he ignores the court's orders, Mr. Trump, I hope we don't have to consider removing you from the trial,” Kaplan said in court Wednesday.
“I understand that you probably want that from me,” he continued.
President Trump replied, “I would love to do that.”
“You would,” Kaplan retorted. “It seems like I can't control myself in this situation.”
“Neither can you,” Trump said, according to the Associated Press.
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Cobb said in an interview that Trump only came to court “to create a political narrative,” noting that Trump had refused to testify in a previous trial that dealt with the facts of the sexual assault case. The case focused solely on damages.
“He's just there for the show and the free publicity, because Trump embodies the adage that there's no such thing as a bad reputation. If they're talking about you, you win. ” he said.
“His badmouthing is distinctive,” added Cobb, who served in the Trump White House, adding that the former president “went from badmouthing judges to badmouthing one of his 2024 Republican rivals, Nikki Haley.” said. Presidential candidate nomination.
“He continued to lie about the sexual assault even though the jury had already found him.” [liable] This is very similar to his ongoing lies that the election was stolen,” Cobb said.
He praised the judge in the case and said he understood his frustration with both Trump and his lawyers.
“He's an experienced judge. He's tried so many cases that are a much heavier task for a judge than this particular case. I mean, he's tried terrorist cases and mob cases. We've handled it, and we just recently handled the Sam Bankman Freed case,” Cobb said.
“This judge should understand that lawyers are privileged to be lawyers, that they must follow the rules, and that it is their job to help things proceed honorably, fairly and expeditiously. He is a very serious judge who believes in this,” he continued. “I think his frustration with Mr. Trump is understandable. But the truth is, he's probably even more frustrated with Trump's lawyers, who did some shocking things in court today. I think so.”
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