Trump must give videotaped deposition in protest lawsuit, judge orders The protest followed Trump's calling Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists. Trump faces the prospect of another deposition by the end of the year as part of a defamation lawsuit filed by former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos, who alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007, which Trump denies. Zervos claims that Trump defamed her during his campaign when he said she lied about the alleged assault. Trump has also denied the allegations by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll, who is suing him for defamation after he accused her of lying about an alleged 1990s rape in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman. Trump's tax filings and business practices are also under criminal investigation by the district attorneys in Manhattan and New York State. https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-giv...rotest-lawsuit-judge-orders/story?id=80579982
For these Civil cases I think he'll just risk risk contempt if he's not allowed to appeal. I think he'll dare a judge to do anything beyond a fine, and I would bet most judges will be scared to death to order him to be arrested. I just do not see him complying in any way with these civil cases. He'll delay as long as he can of course which could delay these cases for years and years, but ultimately I just can't see him doing anything beyond settling to make it go away ala Trump university, or just daring the judge to issue a contempt of court that puts him in any jeopardy of doing jail time whatsoever.
Trump's a lying jerk, but I don't have much respect for her either. She kissed Trump's butt to project herself into the spotlight for years, starting with The Apprentice.
Carroll v Trump --- If Trump doesn't testify, he loses. As a trial lawyer of 40 years, it seems to me that this is the equivalent of throwing in the towel and conceding that the verdict will be for Ms. Carroll. The only reason I can think of why Trump would choose to go to trial in a civil case and not testify is to spare Trump the humiliation of having his testimony heard by the jury and the jury entering an unequivocal finding that the is lying (by voting for Ms. Carroll). Let me explain. Under the rules of evidence, every statement of Trump which makes it more likely that Trump did what Ms. Carroll alleges can be admitted as an “admission” or a “statement against interest.” So, the judge has ruled that Trump’s “grab them by the p_____y” statement and others can be admitted. Any statements made by Trump in his deposition which make it more likely that he did what Ms. Carrol alleges are admissible. Similarly, the testimony of other women who experienced similar conduct by Trump is admitted as evidence of Trump’s “pattern or practice”. This is because similar conduct with others is probative of what Trump did to Ms. Carroll. On the other hand, without Trump testifying that he did not do it, Trump’s attorneys have no way to present any defense at all. They cannot introduce Trump’s out of court denials that he raped Ms. Carroll. Out of court statements are not evidence. Even his testimony in his deposition that “I would never have done it because she is not my type”, can’t be presented to the jury. The only parts of depositions which can be presented to the jury are those which impeach, not support, the non- testifying person. So, without Trump testifying, his attorneys can try to discredit Ms. Carroll and her witnesses. But, that is all. In rebuttal, Ms. Carroll’s attorneys are entirely free argue to the jury that Trump’s absence is an admission of guilt. (The 5th amendment privilege against self-incrimination only applies in criminal cases.) They can say “If he didn’t do it, why isn’t he here testifying before you? The reason he is not here is that if you heard him testify, you would know he is lying.” Trump’s pattern in other cases where he has faced imminent trial defeat has been to settle at the last moment—e.g. Trump University litigation. So, what is happening here? My guess is that settlement negotiations have occurred, and Ms. Carroll has refused to settle without an admission from Trump that he raped her and defamed her. Faced with having to make an admission and pay some amount of $$$, Trump has no alternative but to go to trial. But, facing almost certain defeat, Trump can save a small amount of face by not testifying and then claiming the trial process was unfair. More tea leaf reading. I thought Trump’s lawyers showed desperation a few weeks ago when, after refusing for years to allow a DNA comparison between Trump and Ms. Carroll’s dress, they reversed course and sought a trial delay for such a test. If Trump knew he had not sexually assaulted Ms. Carroll, he would have been eager for such the DNA comparison. That he waited until the last moment showed desperation. The lawyers knew that they would lose and threw a hail Mary in the hopes that the lapse in time would defeat the comparison. I may be wrong, but that is the way things seem to me from the available information.
Trump’s unused mansion falls under investigation for possible tax fraud The latest financial disclosures filed by Donald Trump raise new questions about a large tax break he got on a Batman-like estate north of New York City. The former president reduced his tax bill on the land listed as Seven Springs LLC by more than $3.5 million in 2015, when he first entered politics, and new filings show the property earned him less than $2,500 in the form of a vaguely labeled "rebate," although he valued the land at $50 million, reported The Daily Beast. “There has been an enormous amount of valuation abuse," said Nancy Assaf McLaughlin, a national expert on conservation easements, who was speaking generally because she did not know the details of Trump's property. "People will come up with a ‘before value’ that exceeds anything a willing buyer would pay, using ‘subdivision development analysis’ and coming up with a hypothetical subdivision of lots." “It has no relation to what somebody would actually pay you for that property on the open market," added McLaughlin, a law professor at the University of Utah. “Income tax deduction is inappropriately lucrative in those cases." Trump has reported no income on the estate since he started filing federal disclosure forms required by some executive branch officials, and an expert compared his arrangement to a rancher who decided to leave their land to sit unused. “Many ranchers are earning next to nothing on their farmland, but as soon as they give it up, they get a very generous tax break relative to what they were earning," said James Vercammen, a land economist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. "You’re going to learn a lot more from the tax break than what you’d earn from the land itself." Trump had hoped to build a golf course and several mansions on the property, but local residents opposed any land development, so he instead cashed in on the tax break -- and New York attorney general Letitia James is now investigating the value he placed on the underdeveloped land. “When an appraiser comes back with values that are lower than what Trump wants, he’ll get fired, won’t get paid, or they’ll hire another,” said a source who had seen some of Trump's transactions in recent years. “He’s extracted the highest possible he can find.”
This part of the letter is so unlike anything Trump would think... “Defendant Trump wishes to appear at trial,” the letter states, but adds “concern” that New York City and the court would face “logistical and financial burdens” to have a former president travel with the Secret Service and other security protections to the proceedings.' There is no sane person who would actually believe Trump would care for a second about burdening anyone with logistics when he travels. He certainly wouldn't give a rat's ass about any burdens it put on the NY court house. This is a guy who just had to get in a limo to ride around the block and wave at his stupid supporters when he had COVID. This is a guy who thrives on appearances, and rallying around fundraising and campaigning. What a crock of a statement. As if Trump is even capable of thinking about others. I think the saddest part about a self-centered con, rapist, and sociopath like Trump is that his 4 year acting gig pretending to care about our country set him up for life with Secret Service Protection. It's a big mouth lying bully's wildest dream!
