In a recent development, a legal representative for Donald Trump has raised concerns over a potential conflict of interest involving the judge presiding over E. Jean Carroll’s defamation trial. The lawyer, Alina Habba, contends that the judge’s alleged past association with Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, could cast a shadow on the $83.3 million awarded to the writer.
Habba’s argument is rooted in a New York Post article from January 27, revealing the shared history between U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan and Roberta Kaplan. Both legal professionals had worked at the same law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, in the early 1990s, before Judge Kaplan assumed the federal bench in 1994. The article quoted an unnamed former colleague who described Judge Kaplan as a mentor to Roberta Kaplan during their time at the firm.
The lawyer asserts that this revelation is “particularly concerning” and could potentially warrant a reconsideration of the verdict. Furthermore, she points to what she perceives as the judge’s biased treatment during the trial, citing an “overtly hostile” stance towards Trump’s side and a “preferential” approach towards Carroll’s side.
Trump, who plans to appeal the recent $83.3 million verdict, faces the challenge of proving that the judge’s connections may have influenced the outcome of the trial. The verdict itself resulted from Trump’s denials in June 2019 regarding accusations that he raped Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
The legal maneuvering brings attention to the potential implications of Judge Kaplan’s alleged past relationship with Roberta Kaplan. According to the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges, judges are obligated to disqualify themselves from cases where their impartiality might reasonably be questioned, particularly when there is a prior professional association with a lawyer involved in the matter.
Carroll’s $83.3 million verdict included compensatory damages of $18.3 million and punitive damages of $65 million. Notably, a previous jury had awarded her $5 million in May for a similar defamation case and sexual abuse allegations against Trump in October 2022, a verdict that Trump is also currently appealing.
As this legal drama unfolds, the spotlight now turns to the potential impact of past connections on the integrity of the judicial process, with both sides gearing up for what could be a protracted legal battle.
