Overruled
From NY Times live coverage of the Trump defamation trial:
Michael Madaio, Trump’s lawyer, objects when Crowley [Carrol’s lawyer] accuses Trump of defaming her. Judge Kaplan asks why. “Defamatory,” Madaio says, objecting to the use of the word even though a jury in May found she had been defamed. Judge Kaplan overrules him.
That’s bold. Trump lawyer says it’s defamtory to say that Trump is defamatory even though a jury found he was defamatory just a few months ago.
In addition to that, of course, one could make a good case that defamatory is what Trump is – not just what he does now and then, but what he is. He’s a dedicated full-time defamer; he defames people any time his mouth is not full of cheeseburger. Defaming people is his life, his talent, his raison d’être. He loves talking shit about people; he loves it the way a dog loves chasing the ball. He’s a mean bastard all the way down.
This was from last week. Habba is Trump’s lawyer.
Made me laugh…
Hahaha yep that’s funny.
This morning, Judge Kaplan told Habba “You are on the verge of spending some time in the lock up.”
If you watch a lot of legal tv shows, you might get the impression that this sort of thing happens all the time, and even that it’s a sign of a good passionate attorney who’s willing to go to the wall for her client. It doesn’t and it’s not.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a threat first-hand. Judges don’t tend to throw around threats like that, and by all accounts Judge Kaplan is pretty even-keeled.
The next episode of serious trouble should be a good one!