During trial proceedings on Friday that were covering the question of financial penalties on Donald Trump stemming from allegations made by writer E. Jean Carroll of defamation, a lawyer for Carroll used Trump’s recent claims of astronomical value of his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago against him.
Trump pushed such rhetoric in tandem with a state case in New York alleging he and others had used false claims of wealth that spurred financial benefits beyond the appropriate. (Examples include expenses on interest for loans allegedly lower by huge margins than what would have more closely matched Trump and his business’ financial status.) Trump has argued that Mar-a-Lago is worth as much as $1.8 billion — which would make the property among the highest valued on earth.
There’s no clearly substantiating evidence for these assertions, but if that’s what Trump is insistent upon sticking with, that’s where Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan wanted to expand her arguments about how much in penalties should be imposed on Donald. Michael Madaio, a lawyer for Trump, tried objecting to Kaplan’s reference to Trump’s claims of Mar-a-Lago’s value, but the judge quickly overruled him. “The jury will remember what was said,” Judge Lewis Kaplan added.
Trump himself had been in attendance Friday for closing arguments ahead of jurors’ deliberations over amounts to potentially impose in costs on the ex-president, but he left in a huff. He has continued speaking against Carroll in connection with this second trial originating with (civil) claims she made against him, theoretically opening himself up to even more legal consequences.
The alleged defamation — claims upheld by jurors and then a judge — refers to Trump’s antagonistic responses to Carroll’s account of him sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. An earlier jury also generally upheld Carroll’s account of the assault itself, imposing $5 million in civil penalties on Trump. Costs on the ex-president this time around could end up significantly larger as he also stares down potentially steep penalties in that case alleging fraud, in which the judge’s decision more formally capping off trial is expected sometime this month.
