Trump is 'on thin ice with the courts' as defamation trial gets underway

Despite all his legal problems — from four criminal indictments to a variety of civil lawsuits — Donald Trump enjoyed a major victory in the 2024 Iowa Caucuses, where he won more votes than GOP presidential rivals Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy combined. Trump picked up roughly 51 percent of the vote compared to 21 percent for DeSantis, 19 percent for Haley and 7 percent for Ramaswamy, who has dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

Trump expects to spend much of 2024 juggling campaign events and legal problems, and the civil trial for writer E. Jean Carroll's second defamation lawsuit against Trump is scheduled to get underway on Tuesday, January 16 — the day after Trump's Iowa victory. In an article published by CNN, journalists Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell and Jeremy Herb lay out some reasons why Trump is "on thin ice with the courts" as the trial begins.

Carroll's first defamation lawsuit against Trump did not go well for the former president, who was ordered to pay Carroll $5 million by a jury. And Carroll's second defamation case could also be costly for Trump, depending on what the jury decides.

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"Lawyers for Carroll asked (Judge Lewis) Kaplan to order precautionary restrictions on Trump ahead of trial, citing Trump's rogue courtroom monologue during closing arguments at his New York civil fraud trial last week," the CNN reporters explain. "In a letter last Friday, Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan asked the presiding judge to consider setting preconditioned limitations on Trump's courtroom behavior, and even preset sanctions should he violate court orders based on his recent outbursts in state court disregarding the judge's orders at his civil fraud trial with the New York state attorney general. Roberta Kaplan is not related to Judge Kaplan."

Judge Kaplan, according to del Valle, Scannell and Herb, "said in an order that he's prepared to take measures when necessary, but he didn't set any conditions ahead of the trial."

"The judge is also acquainted with Trump's penchant for out-of-court comments during ongoing proceedings," the CNN journalists note. "Last year, during the first trial with Carroll, the judge warned Trump's lawyers more than once that the former president could be in violation of his rulings and federal laws for negative public comments he made about Carroll, the judge and the trial."

READ MORE: Analysis of judge's 'brutal order' shows how 'punishing' E. Jean Carroll trial will be for Trump

Read CNN's full article at this link.