Former President Donald Trump is facing ever growing legal issues, stemming not only from the Congressional Committee investigating his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 violence at the U.S. Capitol and the FBI/DOJ seizure of dozens of boxes of classified material from his Florida home, but also from an older case that just won’t go away for the failed businessman and former Commander in Chief.
Former U.S. Attorney and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman took to Twitter over the weekend to note that Trump is about to face questions under oath this week as part of a defamation suit by writer E. Jean Carroll who accused him of sexually assaulting her back in the 1990s.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has ordered Trump to appear, with Trump responding in typical hissy-fit fashion, calling Carroll’s accusations, “a hoax and a lie.”
Litman tweeted a thread claiming that Trump will no options other than to show up in court, or he will face consequences:
“The judge in Jean Carroll’s case against Trump for defamation—growing out of his churlish denial that he raped her in the 1990s—has ordered him to sit for a deposition Wednesday. What are his options?” and then cautioned the former president, “He could ask the Court for another delay, but pretty clear judge would say no. He could not show but pretty clear judge would hold him in contempt and even issue a warrant for his arrest.”
He continued:
“He could show up and a) admit the rape after scores of public denials. That would be tantamount to a confession that he defamed her; b) insist he never did, setting up a he said she said credibility dispute before a New York jury that he’d likely lose; c) take the 5th but that would be admissible against him in the defamation suit, which is civil (absent some unusual New York doctrine I’m unaware of), or d) say he doesn’t recall, which would represent a distinct retreat from his public stance.”
And concluded:
“Finally, he could try to appeal, but he would need to show irreparable injury from the mere fact of having to show up and tell the truth, and after taking extensive discovery of her case. The resultant delay would likely be brief,” he wrote. “Not a very good set of choices. Most likely outcome: appeal. Second most likely: I don’t recall. Third: take the 5th.”
Litman added a sarcastic, “Drip, drip, drip,” at the end, mocking Trump’s drowning in legal issues.
