2023-05-10 05:00:25
Donald Trump during a videotaped statement.
Photo: Keystone
As absurd as the question sounds, it is justified: could it even be useful for Donald Trump that he is now before a court in New York for sexual abuse and defamation was ordered to pay five million dollars in damages? Could it be that his supporters consider all allegations against him to be politically motivated anyway and are therefore all the more united behind him?
Since Trump was accused of paying hush money to a porn actress in New York at the beginning of last month, his tills have been ringing. Since then, he has collected tens of millions of dollars in campaign donations because his supporters apparently think: Now more than ever. In the most recent polls, he is doing better than he has in a long time.
Poll: Trump ahead of DeSantis — and Biden
He is far ahead of his alleged challenger Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination. For a while, this was considered a serious rival – also because Trump has so many legal problems. But gradually it seems as if Trump would succeed precisely because of his many legal disputes. It seems as if every new indictment, every new trial fuels the Trump machine and accelerates it on its way back to the White House.
According to a survey by ABC television and the Washington Post would Trump not only defeat DeSantis. He would also have the upper hand against Joe Biden if the two ran against each other again in the presidential election in November 2024, which everything looks like at the moment, despite all Trump’s processes.
Judge admonished attorney several times
The trial in New York lasted two weeks before the jury reached its verdict on Tuesday. In a 2019 book, journalist and author E. Jean Carroll accused the former president of raping her in 1996 at a posh New York department store called Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue. Eventually, she made the accusation in court.
The procedure was irrelevant in terms of criminal law, since the allegations in this regard are time-barred. Carroll sought compensation from Trump for both the assault and later calling her a liar.
Trump refrained from appearing in court. His attorney, Joe Tacopina, did not call any witnesses. He limited himself to giving Carroll a lengthy cross-examination and an aggressive closing argument. In the past, Trump had noted that the allegations could not be true because Carroll was “not his type”. During the process, he spoke on social media of a “fraudulent and untrue story” and an “invented rip-off”. Judge Lewis Kaplan warned Tacopina several times that his client should not comment disrespectfully into an ongoing trial.
This strategy obviously did not convince the jury, even though Carroll’s story had gaps. For example, she could not remember the exact date of the incident. In addition, no witnesses have been found who can remember her and Trump in the department store, even though Trump was already a celebrity in New York at the time.
Carroll (79) testified that she never had a romantic affair again after meeting Trump.
Trump’s attorney said Carroll may have placed the story in her book in 2019 to boost sales. The context he suggested: During Trump’s presidency, some people made a lot of money from Trump books. For example, according to estimates by the business magazine “Forbes”, journalist Michael Wolff earned more than 10 million dollars with his book “Feuer und Zorn” published in 2018. Almost all reviewers, including those on the politically more left-wing spectrum, agreed that this work should be taken with a pinch of salt. In other words: that it is partly pure invention.
Carroll’s attorneys, in turn, presented two of her friends as witnesses. They said the author had told them about the incident at the time. A witness said that Carroll did not use the word rape. Trump “attacked” her. The second witness said Carroll did say Trump raped her. According to the first witness, Carroll said he should let the matter rest because Trump has an army of lawyers. The second said she recommended Carroll go to the police. She didn’t.
In the current trial, Carroll said she only found the courage to speak out about her experience as part of the #MeToo movement. The #MeToo movement began in 2017 with allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, who used his position of power to harass dozens of women. As a result, more and more women dared to talk about how they had been sexually molested or raped by men.
Carroll, 79, also testified at trial that she never had a romantic affair after meeting Trump. “I couldn’t bring myself to show a man that I liked him,” she said. Therefore, since then she has had to do without one of the most glorious experiences that one can have as a human being.
Prosecutor received death threats
In the USA, different rules apply in a civil trial than in a criminal trial. Judge Kaplan instructed the nine-member jury to decide “which is more likely to be true than false.” In a criminal proceeding, Trump’s guilt should have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. After just under three hours, the jury, six men, three women, came to a unanimous verdict. The jury rejected the allegation of rape. On the other hand, she regarded sexual abuse and defamation as proven.
It says something about the political climate in the US that the judge informed the jury members that they were now legally entitled to speak publicly about the case, but at the same time urged them not to reveal their identities . What he was suggesting was that you could face harassment from supporters of the former president.
Alvin Bragg, the New York prosecutor who charged Trump with hush money payments last month, received “several hundred threats,” according to local authorities. At least two letters with white powder arrived in his office, one with the note: “ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!” Alvin, I’m going to kill you.
After the verdict comes the call for donations
Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina announced on Tuesday that he intends to take action against the verdict. He said of his client: “He will fight against it with an appeal.” The client himself wrote in all capital letters on the social media platform Truth Social: “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. This verdict is a disgrace.”
A little later he sent e-mails to the distributors of his campaign machine, in which he asked his supporters to transfer him more money as a matter of urgency.
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– Each new indictment seems to bring Donald Trump closer to the White House
The former US President has to pay the author E. Jean Carroll millions in compensation. The only question is: How much harm does the conviction really do to Trump?
Christian Zaschke, New York