Judge Issues Warning First Day of Trump Defamation Trial

Federal judge Lewis Kaplan was very clear about how he expects everyone to act throughout the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial against former president Donald Trump.

There will be no comments leading to violence or civil unrest from either party during the trial.

Carroll's defamation lawsuit against Trump is bound to be an emotional one. It comes on the heels of a grand jury indictment and subsequent arraignment that tagged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in regard to alleged hush money payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Carroll, a former Elle writer, is suing the former president over allegations that he defamed her character when he denied sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in New York City in the mid-1990s, including insulting her appearance.

It is unclear if Trump—who was notably absent from the first day of proceedings—will attend at any point in the trial. However, Kaplan issued a strict warning to both parties prior to calling in 48 jurors to begin jury selection proceedings.

Kaplan instructed both parties and their legal teams to "refrain from making any statements that will incite violence or civil unrest."

Kaplan already ordered that the jurors remain anonymous to protect them from potential harassment, unwarranted invasions of privacy and retaliation. His instruction on Tuesday could strengthen protection for those in the courtroom from unsolicited comments.

Former federal prosecutor and former elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek that he doubts the warning is standard practice.

"It may be the norm in Judge Kaplan's courtroom, but that would be an outlier practice. It's the equivalent of telling everyone –– don't violate the law or the applicable ethical constraints of legal advocacy," McAuliffe told Newsweek.

The trial has already gained attention from onlookers, with protestors posting outside of the courtroom Tuesday morning before the trial began. From the photos and videos shared to Twitter, it appeared many were there in support of Carroll. Carroll arrived to chants of "We Believe E. Jean Carroll", and many protestors held signs declaring "No one is above the law" and "Lies have consequences", with one sign depicting Trump's face on a caricature of an inmate behind bars.

The trial is also likely to elicit inflammatory comments from Trump, who has a habit of taking to Truth Social to air his grievances. The former president has previously insulted Carroll, alleged that she spread a lie about him to garner more book sales and said publicly that she was not his "type".

Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing with the defamation lawsuit—including denying that he sexually assaulted Carroll in the 90s. His campaign credited the lawsuit as the product of "deranged Democrats" attempting to interfere with the 2024 presidential election, of which Trump is the leading Republican candidate. The election could see a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, who recently declared his bid for reelection.

"This latest fake case has no merit or facts and is just another part of the witch hunt targeted to interfere and tamper with a Presidential election," a spokesperson for Trump told Newsweek. "The radical, deranged Democrats will stop at nothing in order to prevent the American people from choosing President Donald Trump— the overwhelming front runner by far— as their 47th President. The lunatics will fail and President Trump will Make America Great Again!"