On Friday, a jury ruled that Trump must pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll as restitution for defaming her. Trump’s lawyer in the trial, Alina Habba, claimed the result was partially due to a personal connection between the judge and Carroll’s lawyer, but walked back the claim after being threatened with sanctions.
Making claims
On Monday, Habba wrote in a court filing that “the underlying defamation case tried last year, and the damages trial completed last week, were both litigations in which there were many clashes between Your Honor and defense counsel. We believe, and will argue on appeal, that the Court was overtly hostile towards defense counsel and President Trump, and displayed preferential treatment towards Plaintiff’s counsel.”
Personal relationship
Habba referenced a New York Post article that claimed Judge Lewis Kaplan had been a “mentor” for Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s lawyer, in the 1990s. The two are not related.
Unfounded claim
“I remember no direct interaction from that time period with Your Honor at all,” Roberta Kaplan responded in a Tuesday letter to Judge Kaplan. “This is hardly surprising since at that time, I was a very junior associate at a large New York law firm and Your Honor was one of the leaders of the Paul, Weiss litigation department.”
Distant connection
In the 1990s, Roberta Kaplan and Judge Kaplan both worked at Paul, Weiss, a law firm in New York. However, there is no evidence that the judge served as a “mentor” to Kaplan while at the firm.
Threats sent
Kaplan warned in her Tuesday letter that she and Carroll’s other lawyers “reserve all rights, including but not limited to the right to seek sanctions” if Habba did not withdraw her accusation.
Change of heart
In another letter, Habba then walked back her accusation. “The point of my January 29 letter,” she wrote, “was to verify whether the information in the New York Post article is accurate. Since Ms. Kaplan has now denied that there was ever any mentor-mentee relationship between herself and Your Honor, the issue has seemingly been resolved.”
Slim chance
Habba has implied that Trump will appeal the $83.3 million judgment. However, now that the alleged connection between the judge and Carroll’s lawyer has been dismissed as baseless, the grounds for such an appeal are slimmer.
Many battles
The “clashes” Habba referred to in her initial letter made headlines on multiple occasions. Business Insider reported that Judge Kaplan and Habba fought more than a dozen times during a single hearing.
No funny business
At the beginning of one hearing, Habba insisted on complaining about Kaplan’s refusal to hold the hearing on a later day to allow Trump to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral. “The application is denied,” Kaplan snapped. “I will hear no further argument on it. None. Do you understand that word? None. Please sit down.”
Incompetence
“Good lord!” Attorney Ron Filipkowski wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to reports of Habba’s errors and general conduct in the courtroom. “Habba doesn’t know how to impeach a witness with a deposition transcript so the judge has to send the jury out to explain to her how to do it. The difference between a real lawyer and a TV lawyer.”
Accumulating judgments
The $83 million judgment is in addition to an earlier, separate trial, in which Carroll won $5 million for sexual abuse and other defamatory remarks made by Trump against her.
Not helping himself
Trump stormed out while Carroll’s lawyer was giving her closing statement. “The idea in a case where our basic thesis is that he’s a bully who can’t follow the rules, to act like a bully who doesn’t follow the rules? An interesting strategy, let me put it that way,” Kaplan said, quipping that the moment won Carroll an additional $10 million.
Going to a good cause
After winning the $83 million, Carroll said she planned on spending it on something Trump “hates.” “If it’ll cause him pain for me to give money to certain things,” she said, “that’s my intent.”
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