Trump Lawyer Requests Mistrial in Civil Lawsuit Brought Against Former President by E. Jean Carroll

A lawyer for former President Donald Trump has requested a mistrial in the civil lawsuit brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll, who alleges that he raped her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. The request was made in a letter to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on Monday, hours before Carroll faces a second day of cross examination in the trial.

In the 18-page filing, Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina accused Judge Kaplan of making “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings” against his client. Tacopina requested that the judge dismiss the lawsuit, or alternatively, “correct the record for each and every instance in which the Court has mischaracterized the facts of this case to the Jury” and “allow the [Trump’s counsel] to have greater latitude” to cross-examine Carroll.

Advice columnist E. Jean Carroll is suing the former president for battery and defamation, claiming that he raped her in the 1990s and then defamed her when she came forward in 2019. Carroll testified last week that “Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen.”

The trial is ongoing, and the outcome of Trump’s request for a mistrial is yet to be determined. If the mistrial is not granted, the judge will have to decide whether to “correct the record” and allow Trump’s counsel to have greater latitude in cross-examining Carroll. The trial is expected to continue this week, and the outcome of the case will be determined in the coming weeks.