Donald’s lawyers reveal how they plan to challenge $83.3 MILLION jury verdict in E Jean Carroll case – as they ‘discover startling link between the writer and the judge’
- Trump’s attorneys claim there was an ‘insane’ conflict of interest at the heart of the case that they only became aware of after the trial was over
- Attorney Alina Habba claimed Judge Lewis Kaplan had an ‘incestuous’ mentor relationship with Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan – the two are not related
- A representative for Roberta Kaplan dismissed the claims, saying they merely briefly overlapped at the same law firm in the early 1990s
Donald Trump‘s lawyers intend to appeal his staggering $83.3 million defamation lawsuit loss to E. Jean Carroll by arguing there was an ‘insane’ conflict of interest at the heart of the case.
The former president’s legal team are set to appeal on the grounds there was a conflict of interest between Carroll’s lawyer and the judge presiding over her case.
Trump’s firebrand attorney Alina Habba claimed she was unaware that Judge Lewis Kaplan and Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan – who are not related – worked together in the early 1990s, with the judge serving as her ‘mentor’, reports the New York Post.
‘It was never disclosed. It’s insane and so incestuous,’ Habba said, arguing their alleged close relationship was never disclosed and she only became aware of it after the conclusion of the case.
Habba continued: ‘This is news to us. We are going to include this in our appeal and take appropriate measures. The fact it wasn’t disclosed is an ethics violation.’
The allegations of a conflict of interest were bolstered by an anonymous former Weiss partner, who reportedly claimed Roberta Kaplan – a junior associate – made an extra effort to stand out to the managing partners.
‘Lew was like her mentor,’ they claimed.
Before becoming a founding partner at law firm Kaplan, Keckler & Fink in 2016, Roberta Kaplan worked alongside the judge at Paul, Weiss Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison in Manhattan.
She began at the firm in 1992, according to her LinkedIn, where Judge Kaplan was a partner until he was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton in 1994.
In a statement to the Post, representative for Roberta Kaplan, Zak Sawyer, denied there was any conflict of interest and said the two barely knew each other.
‘They overlapped for less than two years in the early 1990s at a large law firm when he was a senior partner and she was a junior associate and she never worked for him,’ he said.
Judge Kaplan clashed with Trump’s legal team on numerous occasions in the fiery defamation trial, including threatening to ‘lock up’ Habba as she continuously interrupted proceedings.
The defamation trial concluded in dramatic fashion on Friday, as a jury awarded Carroll over $60 million more in damages than she was anticipating.
A civil court jury last year found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a Manhattan department store, with his comments after the decision leading to the defamation trial that ended this week.
Trump was ordered to pay the sum as he accused Carroll of lying when she accused him of sexually assaulting her, and has consistently insisted that he never even met her.
The huge damages handed down on Friday came as a surprise even to Carroll, who broke down in tears and embraced her legal team as she won tens of millions more than expected.
Carroll, and her lawyers Kaplan and Shawn Crowley, glanced excitedly at each other as the judge queried what the ‘m’ on the jury’s verdict form signified.
‘Million,’ the foreman replied.
She and her legal team then composed themselves as the judge wrapped up the proceedings – while Trump’s legal team looked stunned and stoney-faced.
