Donald Trump shook his head in anger Tuesday as the judge in his New York defamation trial informed potential jurors that a prior jury had already determined that the former president sexually assaulted writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
Trump left court before the opening comments, heading to a New Hampshire campaign event, as Carroll’s lawyer accused the Republican presidential front-runner of using “the world’s biggest microphone” to damage her character and turn his fans against her. Trump’s lawyer said Carroll has never been more famous and blames him for “a few mean tweets from Twitter trolls.”
Following a political victory in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, Trump detoured to a Manhattan courthouse to begin what amounts to the sentencing phase of Carroll’s civil complaint, which alleges he assaulted her inside a department store in 1996. Trump left Tuesday after the nine-person jury was chosen.
