(TheRedWire.com) – The chief legal representative for Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit filed by author E. Jean Carroll retracted a suggestion that the presiding judge might have had a close advisory relationship with Carroll’s main attorney after the claim was disputed.
Alina Habba, Trump’s lawyer, sent a communication to Judge Lewis Kaplan, referencing a New York Post piece that relied on an unnamed source to suggest that Kaplan had previously acted as a mentor to Carroll’s attorney during their tenure at the same legal firm in the 1990s.
Robbie Kaplan, who is representing Carroll and has no familial ties to Judge Kaplan, responded by denying any such relationship with the judge, emphasizing that she had little to no interaction with him during her time as a junior associate at the law firm where Judge Kaplan was a prominent figure in the litigation team.
Robbie Kaplan highlighted the inaccuracy and untimely nature of Habba’s insinuations, considering them a significant concern. She also reserved the right to pursue sanctions against such baseless allegations.
Habba, responding swiftly, issued another letter withdrawing her previous insinuation, stating her initial intent was merely to clarify the claims made in the newspaper article. With Robbie Kaplan’s denial of any mentor-mentee relationship with the judge, the issue appeared to be settled.
This exchange occurred in the aftermath of a jury’s decision last week to award Carroll $83.3 million in damages from Trump, following his 2019 denials of sexually assaulting the columnist years ago. Despite the verdict, Trump continues to refute Carroll’s accusations, maintaining his innocence and indicating plans to appeal the recent judgment. This appeal is anticipated to challenge the judge’s impartiality, among other concerns, as Trump’s legal team has previously contested the judge’s decisions during the trial, suggesting a predisposition against the former president.
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