Donald Trump Is Running Scared
Donald Trump’s lawyers are trying to prevent an expert witness from testifying in his upcoming defamation trial against writer E. Jean Carroll. In a fun twist, the expert witness is the same woman who helped set massive damages for Rudy Giuliani.A federal judge ruled in September that Trump is liable for defaming Carroll in 2019 and owes her monetary damages. The exact amount will be set during the trial, which will begin in January.Trump’s lawyers filed a motion on Wednesday asking presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan to bar Ashlee Humphreys, a Northwestern University marketing professor who analyzes social media trends, from testifying against the former president next month.In the court documents, lawyer Michael Madaio argued that the damages estimates Humphreys had previously submitted were too high.“The damages estimations in her initial report are egregiously inflated (to the tune of millions of dollars), utilize methods which ascribe harm in an unreliable and incorrect manner; and do not accurately reflect the actual harm to plaintiff’s reputation,” Madaio wrote.Madaio took particular issue with the fact that Humphreys had initially included estimates for alleged damage caused by three different comments Trump made. Carroll is no longer suing over one of those statements, but Madaio argued Humphreys had not adjusted her estimate accordingly.Carroll’s lawyer hit back Monday, pointing out that Humphreys had indeed accounted for the change in estimated damages in a supplemental report.“Trump is understandably desperate to get rid of Professor Humphreys,” Roberta Kaplan (no relation to the judge) wrote in a filing asking to reject Trump’s request. “That Professor Humphreys recently testified in another case that resulted in a $108 million defamation verdict likely adds to Trump’s sense of urgency.”Kaplan was referring to the defamation case against Giuliani. The former Trump lawyer was found liable in August for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. On Friday, Giuliani was ordered to pay the women a whopping $148 million in damages.Humphreys testified against Giuliani on December 13, the same day Trump’s lawyers filed the motion to bar her from appearing at the Carroll trial. Her testimony was pivotal in determining the exact amount of damages he owed.Humphreys is no stranger to Carroll’s case against Trump. The Northwestern professor already testified in Carroll’s first defamation lawsuit against the former president. In May, a jury unanimously found Trump liable for sexual abuse and battery against Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defaming her in 2022 while denying the assault. He was ordered to pay her $5 million in damages, based on Humphreys’s estimates.Carroll’s second lawsuit is for comments Trump made in 2019, when he said she made up the rape allegation to promote her memoir. Judge Kaplan ruled that since Trump has already been found liable for sexual abuse, his 2019 comments are by default defamatory. Carroll is now seeking up to $12 million in damages, based on Humphreys’s recommendation.
Donald Trump’s lawyers are trying to prevent an expert witness from testifying in his upcoming defamation trial against writer E. Jean Carroll. In a fun twist, the expert witness is the same woman who helped set massive damages for Rudy Giuliani.
A federal judge ruled in September that Trump is liable for defaming Carroll in 2019 and owes her monetary damages. The exact amount will be set during the trial, which will begin in January.
Trump’s lawyers filed a motion on Wednesday asking presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan to bar Ashlee Humphreys, a Northwestern University marketing professor who analyzes social media trends, from testifying against the former president next month.
In the court documents, lawyer Michael Madaio argued that the damages estimates Humphreys had previously submitted were too high.
“The damages estimations in her initial report are egregiously inflated (to the tune of millions of dollars), utilize methods which ascribe harm in an unreliable and incorrect manner; and do not accurately reflect the actual harm to plaintiff’s reputation,” Madaio wrote.
Madaio took particular issue with the fact that Humphreys had initially included estimates for alleged damage caused by three different comments Trump made. Carroll is no longer suing over one of those statements, but Madaio argued Humphreys had not adjusted her estimate accordingly.
Carroll’s lawyer hit back Monday, pointing out that Humphreys had indeed accounted for the change in estimated damages in a supplemental report.
“Trump is understandably desperate to get rid of Professor Humphreys,” Roberta Kaplan (no relation to the judge) wrote in a filing asking to reject Trump’s request. “That Professor Humphreys recently testified in another case that resulted in a $108 million defamation verdict likely adds to Trump’s sense of urgency.”
Kaplan was referring to the defamation case against Giuliani. The former Trump lawyer was found liable in August for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. On Friday, Giuliani was ordered to pay the women a whopping $148 million in damages.
Humphreys testified against Giuliani on December 13, the same day Trump’s lawyers filed the motion to bar her from appearing at the Carroll trial. Her testimony was pivotal in determining the exact amount of damages he owed.
Humphreys is no stranger to Carroll’s case against Trump. The Northwestern professor already testified in Carroll’s first defamation lawsuit against the former president. In May, a jury unanimously found Trump liable for sexual abuse and battery against Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defaming her in 2022 while denying the assault. He was ordered to pay her $5 million in damages, based on Humphreys’s estimates.
Carroll’s second lawsuit is for comments Trump made in 2019, when he said she made up the rape allegation to promote her memoir. Judge Kaplan ruled that since Trump has already been found liable for sexual abuse, his 2019 comments are by default defamatory. Carroll is now seeking up to $12 million in damages, based on Humphreys’s recommendation.
