Federal Jury Orders Donald Trump to Pay $83.3 Million in Defamation Case

[Danderman123]

13 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

 

Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan and Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan worked together in the early 1990s. A source indicated that the judge was once Roberta Kaplan’s mentor.

 

This is called a conflict of interest and constitutes grounds for a reversal in an appeals court.

Do you have a link that shows this to be a conflict of interest for Federal courts?

 

Alina Habba's Move Against Judge 'Self-Defeating'—Legal Analyst

 

"

This is a bogus motion by the Trump team. There's nothing there," Honig said.

 

"Every judge in that courthouse knows, socializes with, has worked with, sometimes maybe mentored, dozens, hundreds of attorneys in this city. I used to practice in that courthouse in front of judges who used to be my colleagues, my supervisors. If anything, they were tougher on me as a result of it. That is not enough for a conflict of interest," Honig said.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

33 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

 

Trump's lawyer did not disclose it.

 

In her motion, Habba cited a recent New York Post article which quoted an unnamed source suggesting Roberta Kaplan had considered Judge Kaplan her "mentor" at the law firm.

https://www.newsweek.com/alina-habba-conflict-judge-kaplan-e-jean-carroll-lawyer-1865169
 

 

 

Maybe we can get an opinion from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the recusal issue for judges, assuming there's any truth to the claim in the Post article:

 

Justice Thomas Ruled on Election Cases. Should His Wife’s Texts Have Stopped Him?

The nature of the text messages was enough to require recusal, legal experts said. But the Supreme Court has traditionally left such decisions to the discretion of the justice in question.

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20220326000031/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/us/supreme-court-clarence-thomas-recusal.html

 

Edited January 30 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

From Katie Phang of MSNBC earlier this month on a prior Trump claim:

 

 

Edited January 30 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[rattlesnake]

20 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Do you have a link that shows this to be a conflict of interest for Federal courts?

 

Alina Habba's Move Against Judge 'Self-Defeating'—Legal Analyst

 

"

This is a bogus motion by the Trump team. There's nothing there," Honig said.

 

"Every judge in that courthouse knows, socializes with, has worked with, sometimes maybe mentored, dozens, hundreds of attorneys in this city. I used to practice in that courthouse in front of judges who used to be my colleagues, my supervisors. If anything, they were tougher on me as a result of it. That is not enough for a conflict of interest," Honig said.

 

The relevant part pertains to the unnamed source which, according to Alina Habba, claims the judge was Carroll's lawyer's "mentor", which suggests a strong relationship, and if that is indeed true, the fact that it was not disclosed can constitute a violation and grounds for dismissal.

It seems unlikely to me that Trump's team would only find this out now. They probably intentionally refrained from revealing it previously.

[Danderman123]

27 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

 

The relevant part pertains to the unnamed source which, according to Alina Habba, claims the judge was Carroll's lawyer's "mentor", which suggests a strong relationship, and if that is indeed true, the fact that it was not disclosed can constitute a violation and grounds for dismissal.

It seems unlikely to me that Trump's team would only find this out now. They probably intentionally refrained from revealing it previously.

No, they're that stupid enough to wait until the NY Daily News had the "scoop".

[Danderman123]

Why has Donald Trump stopped talking about E. Jean Carroll?

 

I can give you 83 million reasons why.

 

I guess Trump isn't such a fighter, after all.

[Elkski]

Grab em by the pussy!   Ring any bells?

 

[Danderman123]

8 minutes ago, Elkski said:

Grab em by the pussy!   Ring any bells?

 

You don't even have to ask E. Jean Carroll first.

Edited January 30 by Danderman123

[ozimoron]

5 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

 

Trump's lawyer did not disclose it.

 

In her motion, Habba cited a recent New York Post article which quoted an unnamed source suggesting Roberta Kaplan had considered Judge Kaplan her "mentor" at the law firm.

https://www.newsweek.com/alina-habba-conflict-judge-kaplan-e-jean-carroll-lawyer-1865169

 

And you repeat that as a "fact"? That's about the most tenuous claim I've read all year. Not only no evidence provided but the source was unnamed. Ridiculous. And you know it, that's why you just referred to "sources".

[rattlesnake]

7 hours ago, ozimoron said:

 

And you repeat that as a "fact"? That's about the most tenuous claim I've read all year. Not only no evidence provided but the source was unnamed. Ridiculous. And you know it, that's why you just referred to "sources".

 

And you repeat that as a "fact"?

 

No I don't. Unlike a lot of people here, I tend to refrain from hasty dogmatic assertions and wild predictions.

 

Just yesterday, I was told on this thread that Alina Habba would never appeal. Now, one day later, okay she is appealing but it holds no water… Looking forward to tomorrow.

 

How about waiting a bit before making bold statements? Sure, the media are saying Trump is toast, but they are the same media who have been saying this since 2015. How about learning from past mistakes? Surely by now you should know that wanting something doesn't make it happen?

 

 

[Walker88]

I was reminded that in terms of financial penalties, trump hasn't even begun to feel the heat.

 

Already noted here:

 

---$5 million for the first defamation case

---83.3 million for the 2nd defamation case

---$370 million or more for his bank and insurance fraud convictions

 

As they say on late night infomercials, "But wait; there's more!"

 

11 Congresspeople are suing trump for fomenting the 1-6-21 insurrection and terrorist attack

4 Capitol police officers are suing trump for 1-6-21

 

These will be civil trials, adjudicated in the DC area, and each could hit trump with penalties larger than the latest E. Jean Carroll penalty. If SC Smith successfully convicts trump of his part in the insurrection, the civil suits will be easy to win for the aggrieved parties.

 

All in, trump could be looking at more than $1 billion, maybe $1.5 billion. In cash. In cash he doesn't have.

 

The guy is going to end up on SNAP and Welfare.

 

The NY Times journalist Russ Buettner has seen all of trump's tax returns going back to the late 1980s. He estimates trump cannot even afford the current fines and penalties, as he has had a negative cash flow for years. trump's two big gains in his life were 1) inheritance and allowance from his father, and 2) royalties from his TV show Apprentice. Absent that, trump has been a business failure. Capital gains on properties he inherited from his father, cash from his father, and later The Apprentice funded his lifestyle, but businesses he began himself, in total, are net losers.

[Walker88]

14 hours ago, G_Money said:

OMG,  another one that believes everything they hear on “The View”.

 

OMG, another one who believes everything he hears on Alex Jones and Stormfront.

[jerrymahoney]

Trump lawyer backs off idea that E. Jean Carroll judge had conflict

January 31, 20242:29 AM GMT+7Updated 2 hours ago

 

NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A lawyer for Donald Trump on Tuesday backed off her suggestion that the judge who oversaw E. Jean Carroll's two successful civil defamation trials against the former U.S. president might have had a conflict of interest

 

"The point of my January 29 letter was to verify whether the information contained in the New York Post article is accurate," she wrote. "Since Ms. Kaplan has now denied that there was ever a mentor-mentee relationship between herself and Your Honor, this issue has seemingly been resolved."

 

https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-attorney-claim-judges-conflict-utterly-baseless-carrolls-lawyer-says-2024-01-30/

[Danderman123]

7 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

 

And you repeat that as a "fact"?

 

No I don't. Unlike a lot of people here, I tend to refrain from hasty dogmatic assertions and wild predictions.

 

Just yesterday, I was told on this thread that Alina Habba would never appeal. Now, one day later, okay she is appealing but it holds no water… Looking forward to tomorrow.

 

How about waiting a bit before making bold statements? Sure, the media are saying Trump is toast, but they are the same media who have been saying this since 2015. How about learning from past mistakes? Surely by now you should know that wanting something doesn't make it happen?

 

 

 

Ms. Habba submitted a motion, not, an appeal, over the weekend.

 

So, you are wrong.

 

And her motion was sufficiently slipshod that she will be sanctioned.

 

But, please proceed, and tell me you think her motion was legit.

 

[jerrymahoney]

4 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Ms. Habba submitted a motion, not, an appeal, over the weekend.

It was not a motion or appeal.

 

On the docket, it is described as a LETTER addressed to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan from Alina Habba dated January 29, 2024

[Danderman123]

8 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

It was not a motion or appeal.

 

On the docket, it is described as a LETTER addressed to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan from Alina Habba dated January 29, 2024

Okay, a letter. With a request. So, it's a motion in the form of a letter.

 

Ms. Habba is still going to be sanctioned for it. You don't publicly air rumors about a Federal Judge without any foundation. "I read it in a newspaper " doesn't cut it.

[jerrymahoney]

6 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Okay, a letter. With a request. So, it's a motion in the form of a letter.

 

Ms. Habba is still going to be sanctioned for it. You don't publicly air rumors about a Federal Judge without any foundation. "I read it in a newspaper " doesn't cut it.

 

E. Jean Carroll's lawyer threatens sanctions against Alina Habba after Trump lawyer pushes false conflict-of-interest story
Jan 31, 2024, 12:35 AM GMT+7

 

"The purpose of the letter was simply to inquire as to whether there is any merit to a recently published New York Post story which reported on the alleged existence of such a relationship," (Habba) wrote.

 

In her own letter earlier, Roberta Kaplan wrote that Trump and his attorney "have pushed a false narrative of judicial bias so that they could characterize any jury verdict against Trump as the product of a corrupt system," and quoted one of the judge's previous rulings to point out that such complaints had no effect in a courtroom.

 

She also wrote that she may seek sanctions against Habba for the false accusation.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/carroll-lawyer-threatens-sanctions-trump-alina-habba-judge-mentor-2024-1

[Danderman123]

And, in response, Ms. Habba has dropped the matter, and backed off completely.

 

Why is Trump using such crappy lawyers?

Edited January 30 by Danderman123

[jerrymahoney]

6 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

And, in response, Ms. Habba has dropped the matter, and backed off completely.

 

Why is Trump using such crappy lawyers?

So this is all moot unless the former Paul Weiss partner has more non-anonymous info.

 

Ms. Habba is not involved in the appeal brief on the assault/defamation MAY 2023 verdict. 

 

And per CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig in your Newsweek link above:

 

"Judge Kaplan's been on the bench for 30 years. They have their appeal issues. This ain't one of them."

 

 

Edited January 30 by jerrymahoney

[Danderman123]

25 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

So this is all moot unless the former Paul Weiss partner has more non-anonymous info.

 

Ms. Habba is not involved in the appeal brief on the assault/defamation MAY 2023 verdict. 

 

And per CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig in your Newsweek link above:

 

"Judge Kaplan's been on the bench for 30 years. They have their appeal issues. This ain't one of them."

 

 

An unforced error by Ms. Habba.

[jerrymahoney]

2 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

An unforced error by Ms. Habba.

Agreed.  Unless the former Paul Weiss partner has more to non-anonymously say about his/her contentions.

[rattlesnake]

2 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

Ms. Habba submitted a motion, not, an appeal, over the weekend.

 

So, you are wrong.

 

And her motion was sufficiently slipshod that she will be sanctioned.

 

But, please proceed, and tell me you think her motion was legit.

 

 

 

 

As I said, I don't play the crystal ball game and avoid bold assertions (something lots of users here should emulate).

 

It seems Habba is dropping the "mentor" avenue.

 

“Since Ms. Kaplan has now denied that there was ever a mentor-mentee relationship between herself and Your Honor, this issue has seemingly been resolved,” Habba wrote the judge. But in a footnote to that sentence, Habba added: “There are, however, various other issues relating to the Court’s conduct, including potential bias hostility towards defense counsel, that will be raised in post-trial motions and on appeal.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/30/e-jean-carroll-lawyer-rejects-trump-judge-conflict-concern-from-habba.html

 

Edited January 30 by rattlesnake

[jerrymahoney]

Trump’s appeal of $83.3M defamation verdict will cite alleged conflict due to prior Paul Weiss employment

 

JANUARY 29, 2024, 10:00 AM CST

 

Another issue (besides the withdrawn Habba letter) is whether the punitive damages will stand. Jurors awarded Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages for defamation and $65 million in punitive damages on Friday, Reuters reports. 

 

The issue is whether the punitive damages are excessive under the due process clause, according to an Election Law Blog post by University of California at Los Angeles law professor Rick Hasen. The leading case is State Farm v. Campbell, a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held a ratio of no more than 9-1 was appropriate in all except the most egregious cases.

 

https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/trumps-appeal-of-83.3m-defamation-verdict-will-cite-alleged-conflict-due-to-prior-paul-weiss-employment

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

And, in response, Ms. Habba has dropped the matter, and backed off completely.

 

Why is Trump using such crappy lawyers?

Because no competent lawyer would touch Trump with a barge pole. His record of non-payment and not listening to advice precedes him.

[jerrymahoney]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Because no competent lawyer would touch Trump with a barge pole. His record of non-payment and not listening to advice precedes him.

He now has some very competent attorneys who only work for him on upfront retainer basis

[rudi49jr]

1 hour ago, jerrymahoney said:

He now has some very competent attorneys who only work for him on upfront retainer basis

And you know that how?

 

Trump always says he hires only the best people. Until a few days/weeks/months after he hired them, he fires them (or they quit) and he publicly torches and crucifies them as being the worst ever at their job. Yet somehow that doesn’t seem to register with the MAGA folk. 

[G_Money]

On 1/29/2024 at 6:52 PM, Walker88 said:

In the first defamation trial trump was penalized $5 million. He was required to post that plus some extra, totaling $5.5 million. He could not find a surety or bondsman willing to post even than small amount, so bad is his reputation. It is highly unlikely he will find anyone to post this new $83.3 million plus, which he will be required to post as soon as he files an appeal.

 

Unless a family member ponies up, or he posts assets worth a multiple of the penalty, donny is going to have to find the money somewhere else. He does have $30 million in a Chinese bank, so that could be part of it, but the rest?  Fire sale time.

He’ll get the money!  One way or the other.

 

 

[ozimoron]

4 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

 

As I said, I don't play the crystal ball game and avoid bold assertions (something lots of users here should emulate).

 

It seems Habba is dropping the "mentor" avenue.

 

“Since Ms. Kaplan has now denied that there was ever a mentor-mentee relationship between herself and Your Honor, this issue has seemingly been resolved,” Habba wrote the judge. But in a footnote to that sentence, Habba added: “There are, however, various other issues relating to the Court’s conduct, including potential bias hostility towards defense counsel, that will be raised in post-trial motions and on appeal.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/30/e-jean-carroll-lawyer-rejects-trump-judge-conflict-concern-from-habba.html

 

Just read the same article. Yes, it demonstrates just how quickly and easily conspiracy theorists and non critical thinkers will seize on the flimsiest of accusations and run with it. It should be noted that the source was never named.

[ozimoron]

This claim by Habba has been widely panned by legal experts and Kaplan warned that she could face serious repercussions for making it.

 

"While both the New York Post and Ms. Habba purport to cite the recollections of an 'unnamed partner'... that partner (if he even exists) clearly has a very flawed memory about events that occurred three decades ago."

 

Kaplan concluded her letter by stating that she reserved the right to "seek sanctions" against Habba in response to her claims.

 

https://www.rawstory.com/alina-habba-2667124239/

 

[jerrymahoney]

24 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

And you know that how?

I can read.