Trump lawyer slapped down as he tries to get ​testimony excluded from defamation trial

Donald Trump's attorney had a bid to exclude the testimony of a pivotal witness slapped down on Monday before the judge adjourned the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial for at least a day.

The trial, at which Trump was expected to testify before closing arguments began, was adjourned Monday after a juror called in sick and Trump attorney Alina Habba admitted she might have been exposed to Covid, although she chose to not wear a mask in court while accompanying her client.

With Habba making a plea to allow Trump the ability to testify after Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, which the judge said he would consider — with the caveat, "Circumstances may result in you getting what you want. Or perhaps not" — another Trump lawyer, Michael Madaio, made a parting motion to strike the expert testimony of Northwestern University marketing professor Ashlee Humphreys who provided jurors with a financial estimation of the damage to E. Jean Carroll's reputation at the hands of Trump.

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Last week, Humphreys told the court that she estimated damages at somewhere between $7.3 million and $12.1 million.

As Monday's proceedings were being quickly wrapped up, Inner City Press reported Madaio asked Kaplan, "We'd like to make a Daubert motion about Professor Humphreys testimony."

Kaplan reportedly shut down that request by telling Trump's legal team, "The time to do so was before she testified."