Tag: Defamation

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Crime Donald Trump Sexual Assault

Trump Gets Mocked As ‘A Witness Against Himself’ In Brutal Closing Argument Of Carroll Trial

During closing arguments Monday afternoon at the defamation trial of failed former president Donald Trump, an attorney for writer E. Jean Carroll, who brought the case against the ex-president, made it clear that the deposition of Trump shown last week to the jury is all the evidence jurors need to convict him.

Attorney Roberta Kaplan focused in on the portion of Trump’s testimony in which he said it was “unfortunately or fortunately” a historical fact that famous men can get away with sexually assaulting women.

“Who would say ‘fortunately’ to describe… sexual assault? He thinks stars like him can get away with it.”

Kaplan then added, “In a very real sense, Trump is a witness against himself. He knows he sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll.”

Kaplan concluded her remarks to the jury by noting that if Trump were truly innocent, he would have shown up to tell his side of the story and rebut the allegations against him:

“He didn’t even bother to show up in person.”

If the jury concludes that Trump did indeed defame Carroll, they can award as much in monetary damages as they want. Also, a finding by the jury that the former president is guilty of defamation will, by definition, mean that a group of 12 men and women decided he did indeed commit rape.

Categories
Crime Donald Trump Sexual Assault

Trump Could Be On The Hook For An Enormous Amount Of Financial Damages As Defamation Trial Draws To A Close

The defamation lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll against failed one-term former president Donald Trump may go to the jury as soon as next Tuesday, and that’s when we’ll learn just how much jurors think Carroll deserves in financial damages.

The amount could be astronomical, according to ABC News, which notes the decision is left to the jury.

First, the jury will have to decide if Trump committed battery when he allegedly raped her in the mid-1990s.

If they decide that Trump committed battery, they are expected to be asked to what degree. After that, Carroll’s attorney has proposed that jurors be asked separately whether Carroll has proven that Trump engaged in forcible touching, sexual abuse and rape. The judge has yet to make a decision on that proposal.

If the jury determines that Trump did indeed engage in battery, their next decision will be to decide how much to award in compensatory and punitive damages. There is no limit to how much they could award to Carroll, and that’s what should have the ex-president and his attorneys worried.

In similar cases of defamation, awards have gone as high as the $45.2 million handed down by a Texas jury against right-wing conspiracy theorist and broadcaster Alex Jones. Jones was accused of calling the Sandy Hook mass shooting a “staged event” and suggesting that the children killed had been “crisis actors” used to push for more federal gun control laws.

Since Trump often brags about being rich, that could also play a role in the jury’s decision of how much money to award Carroll, especially since they will have heard testimony that the former president raped her and then made defamatory statements when she dared to accuse him of the crime.

The indicted ex-president is also facing legal problems in Georgia, New York, and possible federal criminal charges for his mishandling of classified documents.

Categories
Crime Donald Trump Sexual Assault

Trump Says He’ll Cut His Trip To Ireland Short So He Can ‘Confront’ E. Jean Carroll In New York Trial

Despite insisting for weeks that he would not play any role whatsoever in the defamation trial brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll, failed one-term former president Donald Trump is now suggesting that he will cut his trip to Ireland short and return to New York so he can “confront” his accuser.

The Evening Standard reports Trump made the remarks Thursday while golfing at his resort near the village of of Doonbeg, Co Clare.

“I’m going back to New York. I was falsely accused by this woman, I have no idea who she is – it’s ridiculous,” he said.

He said he is having to cut his trip to Ireland short because of the trial.

“I’ll be going back early because a woman made a claim that is totally false, it’s fake.”

He said his accuser is a Democrat and the judge is a “rough judge”.

“He doesn’t like me very much, he was appointed by Bill Clinton,” he said.

He added: “It’s a disgrace but we have to do it, it’s a part of life.

“It’s a fake claim like all the other claims, just like ‘Russia Russia Russia’.”

The indicted ex-president also called the defamation lawsuit a “political scam.”

“Because of that I have to leave Ireland and I have to leave Scotland where I have great properties, I have to leave early.
“I don’t have to but I choose to.”

Trump also suggested that the Carroll case is politically motivated because he’s running for president next year.

“This is a political attack. This is the only way they think they can win the election because (Joe) Biden is losing.”

The disgraced former president’s attorneys, however, may not allow him to testify under oath in New York, if only because doing so would open him up to potential perjury charges because he’s known to lie about everything.

 

Categories
Elections Fox News Fox News Lies

Second, ‘More Dangerous’ Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox Given Green Light To Proceed

As Fox News faces daily revelations from the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, yet another defamation suit against has been given the go ahead by a court, and this one is considered to be even more dangerous than the Dominion case.

The Guardian reports on the second lawsuit, which has been filed by Smartmatic and is seeking $2.7 billion in damages.

Smartmatic claims that more than 100 false statements were broadcast by Fox News hosts and guests. Smartmatic was falsely said to have been involved in 2020 election counts in six battleground states – in fact, it was present only at the count in Los Angeles county.

Fox broadcast that Smartmatic shared its technology with Dominion, when in fact the two companies had no communication and regarded each other as rivals. Smartmatic was in cahoots with foreign governments in a conspiracy to rig the vote for Biden, Giuliani said on Bartiromo’s show – a claim that the company disputes as false and defamatory.

Fox also described Smartmatic as having been founded in Venezuela at the behest of corrupt dictators. In fact, it was founded by Antonio Mugica and Roger Piñate in 2000 in Boca Raton, Florida, in the wake of the “hanging chad” fiasco, with the aim of using technology to restore people’s faith in election results.

Fox suggested in a statement that the Smartmatic lawsuit cannot stand up to First Amendment scrutiny:

“Freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported and not rooted in sound financial analysis, serving as nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs. There is nothing more newsworthy than covering the president of the US and his lawyers making allegations.”

But the one-two punch of Dominion and Smartmatic would seem to be Fox’s worst nightmare made reality, and the First Amendment doesn’t protect against blatant lies such as the ones Fox is accused of broadcasting.

Categories
Congress GOP

Lauren Boebert Gets Hit With A Lawsuit That Could Expose All Of Her Dirty Secrets

 

This has been the proverbial Week from Hell for Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).

On Wednesday, a new poll showed that Boebert and her Democratic challenger, Adam Frisch, are statistically tied in the latest poll taken in the state, meaning that she could be facing losing her seat in Congress after just one term.

And now Boebert is being hit with a defamation lawsuit that threatens to expose all of the darkest secrets from her past, including some she has denied for years.

David Wheeler, co-plaintiff and president of the American Muckrakers PAC, has filed suit in a North Carolina court, alleging that statements he made about Boebert were indeed truthful and her attack on him constitutes defamation, according to the Smoky Mountain News.

In June, the PAC published scandalous allegations against Boebert, accusing the Christian conservative of formerly being an unregistered escort, and of having had two abortions — allegations, according to the lawsuit, that Wheeler and American Muckrakers believe to be true.

The four-count lawsuit alleges that Boebert told Hannity days later that there was no evidence to back up Wheeler’s claims, that the claims are false and that Wheeler knew the claims were false when he published them. Boebert also threatened legal action, called Wheeler a “hack” and blamed “radical Democrats” for an effort to remove her from office.

Wheeler alleges that the PAC suffered a 92% decrease in revenues after Boebert made her remarks, plummeting from “an average of $20,000 a month to around $3,800 a month.”

Now that the defamation suit has been filed, discovery could potentially open up all of Boebert’s life, including the accusations made by American Muckrakers. Even if none of them prove to be true, it could still expose Bobert to unwanted attention right as she’s trying to convince voters in her district to give her another term in office.