'Looking for response': Experts think Trump is deliberately antagonizing defamation judge

Judge Lewis Kaplan has warned Donald Trump in the past that he could be hit with additional defamation liability if he doesn't curb his social media posts attacking E. Jean Carroll.

But as the jury came into the court Tuesday in the latest defamation case filed by the writer, Trump's social media account blew up with attacks.

Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina, who has since withdrawn from the case, was told last year — during the first trial involving allegations that Trump sexually attacked and then defamed Carroll by denying it — that online statements about the case could be “a new source of potential liability," CNN reported.

At the time, in April 2023, Tacopina promised he would talk to his client and encourage him to refrain from making comments. But the former president has since posted several times, the latest being Tuesday morning.

Temidayo Aganga-Williams, the former senior investigative counsel for the Jan. 6 committee, told MSNBC Tuesday that he had no idea what Trump was doing, but it might be that he actually wants to be punished.

"You know, I can't get into his mind, but if I have to guess, I'm questioning whether he wants a large number against him," said Aganga-Williams. "Some large damages that if he's going to put himself as the victim, what that looks like is for him to be persecuted. Because there is no way, if you were in his position, you would look to avoid liability or limit civil exposure, you would be doing what he's doing."

Throughout the course of Trump's trials, he has been pressing for more and more donations from supporters to help him "fight back" against those he claims are coming after him. That money has started to taper off, legal analyst Lisa Rubin said last week.

"His fundraising has skyrocketed when he's been indicted," Rubin said. "With each court appearance in that same case, he has to manufacture a new grievance to keep the grift going and it hasn't been as successful for him as it has been the first time."

Aganga-Williams explained that he saw as the trial was beginning that Trump was already attacking Carroll on his social media site.

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"So, I think what he's looking for is a response, the same way in his civil case, there was one fact finder, the judge, and he was attacking the judge, attacking the judge's wife, attacking the judge's law clerk," Aganga-Williams continued. "And that only makes sense if you're trying to invoke a response here as opposed to limit your liability."

While giving Iowa Caucus analysis, numbers guru Steve Kornacki showed how Trump's polling against his competitors evolved over the past year. When it was announced he was being indicted, his numbers soared.

See the full discussion in the video below or at the link here.

Trump may have just added to his defamation woes: legal analystwww.youtube.com