Trump defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll postponed due to COVID scare

Donald Trump’s defamation damages trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll was postponed Monday when a juror and his attorney fell ill as the former president asked for another delay.

Shortly after Trump turned up at Manhattan Federal Court for the second week of his trial, Judge Lewis Kaplan informed his lawyers and those representing Carroll that one of the nine jurors had contacted the court to report they were on the way to the city “feeling hot and nauseous.”

Trump’s lead attorney, Alina Habba — standing beside him without a mask — told the court she’d come down with a fever in the last 48 hours after having dinner with her parents, who later tested positive for COVID. Her babysitter was also feeling unwell, Habba added, noting that she and her law partner, Michael Madaio, who also dined with her infected relatives, had tested negative.

Kaplan sent everyone home, first denying an outstanding motion from the defense for a mistrial, which Trump’s lawyers requested in accusing Carroll of deleting evidence in the form of emailed death threats.

“There will be a written opinion in due course,” the judge said. “It will be denied in all respects.”

Court officials sent out an advisory later in the day saying the trial would be adjourned through Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

Before leaving, Habba told the court Trump had reminded her about his upcoming campaign schedule and asked that he be permitted to testify on Wednesday.

“ … Tomorrow is the New Hampshire primary, and he needs to be in New Hampshire. He was planning to testify,” Habba said. “Clearly, he flew in last night to be here. I would just need his testimony to be Wednesday in light of the news about the juror today.”

Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, opposed the request, saying she wanted to finish the trial promptly.

“Your Honor, we would again like to get this trial over. There’s very short testimony from us left, and we just think we should finish tomorrow,” the attorney said.

The judge said he would rule later on the request.

“I’m not going to decide right now. Circumstances may result in your getting what you ask for and maybe not,” Kaplan said. “OK?”

Jurors weighing the case on trial will determine how much, if anything, Trump owes the longtime advice columnist for defaming her as a liar motivated by politics and book sales after she accused him in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a Midtown dressing room decades ago. Carroll is seeking at least $10 million.

The trial concerns the first lawsuit she filed against Trump while he was still president, which he bogged down for years with unsuccessful appeals. She won her other suit against him at trial last May, when a jury determined Trump was liable for sexual assault and defamation for comments he made about her after his presidency, awarding her $5 million in damages. Trump declined to attend that trial, claiming his former attorney, Joe Tacopina, had advised him against it.

If Trump follows through with his decision to take the stand this time around, he can’t deny the underlying allegations. Carroll’s lawyers have expressed concern he’ll turn it into a campaign event.

The GOP front-runner, 77, who displayed no reaction when proceedings were abruptly adjourned, took to Truth Social on his way out of the courthouse, calling the trial “a “HOAX run and funded by Political Operatives!!! “