A federal judge threatened to kick Donald Trump out of court Wednesday after the former president made repeated comments within earshot of the jury hearing a civil defamation trial against him.

Trump muttered that the case is a “witch hunt,” among other similar comments, according to a lawyer for the writer E. Jean Carroll, who is suing Trump over derogatory comments he made about her while he was president.

The episode prompted a stern rebuke from U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who repeatedly tussled with Trump and his lawyers during a testy courtroom session Wednesday morning.

“Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited, and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me,” the judge said.

  • @skulblaka
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    115 months ago

    He’s already well past what would be considered contempt of court for literally any other living human being. They’re giving him as much rope as is possible for two reasons, one being so that absolutely no one can argue a mistrial, and the second being that he continues to attempt to hang himself with every length of rope let out to him. May as well let him continue.

    • @stoly@lemmy.world
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      65 months ago

      so that absolutely no one can argue a mistrial

      This is the part that people keep missing. Judges go into “Super Professional Mode” when these things happen and run their court so by the book that it’s impossible for anyone to complain bias/unfair treatment.

      • @agitatedpotato@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I dont think the people who, and I say this with certainty, WILL compmain its unfair care at all. Even the ones with political power will spin it and have half the country believing that the most lieniant judges of all time are what ‘anti conservative bias’ looks like. It’s like moving the overton window on justice. Republicans after this will believe unless the judge lets a republican defendent sit in their lap and bang the gavel dismissing their own case it is bias. And that’s going to linger every time you try and punish law breakers who they like. Those people make it on juries and when they dont they use bomb threats.