How Trump's own words could doom him in the E. Jean Carroll civil case: report

Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign is unprecedented in many ways. Never before in United States history has a twice-impeached ex-president decided to run again, and never has the U.S. had a presidential candidate who was facing so many legal problems at once. Trump is presently being investigated not only by the U.S. Department of Justice, but also, by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, New York State Attorney General Letitia James and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Moreover, no U.S. presidential candidate has had so many close associates or former associates who were convicted of or pled guilty to criminal charges — a list that includes Allen Weisselberg (the Trump Organization’s long-time chief financial officer), Michael Cohen (Trump’s former personal attorney), Paul Manafort (Trump’s 2016 campaign manager), veteran GOP operative Roger Stone, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and "War Room" host Steve Bannon (former White House chief strategist under Trump).

Trump is presently facing a civil lawsuit from former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll, who alleges that he tried to sexually assault her in a Manhattan department store in the late 1990s — an allegation that Trump has flatly denied. It remains to be seen what a jury in that case will ultimately decide, but journalist Jose Pagliery, in an article published by the Daily Beast on February 15, emphasizes that the last thing Trump needs is for the jury to closely examine some of the "misogynist" comments he made in the past.

"Demeaning a beauty queen, boasting about forcing himself on women, then having the gall to deny he’s ever sexually harassed anyone — that’s the side of Donald Trump the former president’s lawyers don’t want New York City jurors to see as they consider whether or not he raped a magazine columnist decades ago," Pagliery explains. "On Monday, (February 13), a federal judge finalized some key issues in the Bill Cosby-type civil trial where Trump is accused of raping the magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll in a dressing room at a high-end Manhattan department store. Among them is the evidence that’ll be shown."

Trump’s lawyers according to Pagliery, are fighting to keep Trump’s "misogynist" comments from being used as evidence in the Carroll case.

"Trump’s lawyers are trying to stop a long list of video clips and photos from being presented at trial, labeling them 'irrelevant and unduly prejudicial,'" Pagliery reports. "The judge still has not made a final determination about what he will allow at trial."

The material that Trump’s attorneys "don't want to jurors to see" as evidence, according to Pagliery, includes: (1) "the Access Hollywood tape," (2) "Misogynistic bluster at campaign rallies," (3) "that time Hillary (Clinton) raked him through the coals," and (4) "the women themselves."

"Carroll's case against Trump is scheduled to go to trial in April, but the former president's lawyers opened up a can of worms a few days ago when they floated the possibility of finally allowing her to test his DNA," Pagliery observes. "For three years, Carroll has been trying to see if Trump's DNA matches the human traces on the coat dress she wore on the day she claims he attacked her. With several months to go, the judge has not yet decided what key questions will be presented during what’s expected to be a one-week trial."