Donald Trump’s Legal Problems Are Colliding

Donald Trump’s claims at his New York civil fraud trial that he is worth billions will be used against him in a defamation case next year.

It helps the case for E. Jean Carroll, who will be seeking defamation damages based on Trump’s wealth. A New York jury has already awarded Caroll $5 million after finding that Trump had sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when she took a lawsuit.

The former Elle columnist is suing again after Trump allegedly made more defamation comments about her after the jury awarded her $5 million.

Separately, New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump for overvaluing his properties to obtain bank loans. A major part of Trump’s defense has been that his properties were undervalued, not overvalued and that he is far wealthier than it appears in his financial statements.

Carroll’s attorney has now seized that as evidence to be used if a jury is to award Carroll damages again.

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s attorney via email for comment on Friday.

On Thursday, MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Carroll’s legal maneuver shows that “[Trump’s] own words are becoming Trump’s cage.”

She said that Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, on Thursday, wrote to the court in Carroll’s upcoming defamation case to designate quotes from Trump’s fraud trial deposition that Carroll intends to use. Designation is used to mark quotes for later use in a court case.

In his court filing, Kaplan notes that Trump testified in the fraud deposition “about his wealth, an issue relevant to the appropriate measure of punitive damages in this case.”

Rubin said that Trump’s legal team is probably not monitoring how Trump’s “litigation positions in this or that case might impact him in another of his legal troubles.”

She noted that the judge in the Carroll defamation case has set a deadline for Trump to file objections to Carroll’s use of his testimony from the fraud case and to suggest what additional portions should be included for fairness.

Former President Donald Trump at the New York State Supreme Court on November 6, 2023. Trump’s claim that he’s worth billions will likely be used against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

Apart from his deposition in the fraud case, Trump also gave direct evidence on November 6, in which he said: “The financial statements are just the opposite of what your attorney general thought, and they are having a big problem with it,” Trump said. “I’m worth billions of dollars more, so anything that would be a little bit off would be non-material, non-material.”

Carroll’s legal team will likely use that if a jury again awards her damages against Trump. Her defamation case against the former president is due to begin in March.

Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and The Trump Organization are co-defendants in the $250 million civil fraud trial brought by James, who is accusing the former president of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to obtain benefits such as better bank loans and reduced tax bills.

In September, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump, his adult sons, businesses, and executives committed fraud in their property evaluations. The court will decide on six other accusations, including falsifying business records, insurance fraud, and conspiracy claims. Engoron will rule on the charges, as Trump’s legal team did not opt for a jury trial.

The former president, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, denies any wrongdoing and has repeatedly claimed the case was politically motivated.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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