The penalty phase of Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll’s civil case against the former president kicks off this week, and it should come as no surprise that she is backed by known Democrat Party activists and mega-donor Reid Hoffman, who has supported Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign.
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn Corp., walks to the morning session during the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Friday, July 14, 2023. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty)
Carroll accused Trump of groping and raping her in a Bergdorf-Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s, but as Breitbart News reported in April, Trump is not facing criminal charges:
Rather, Carroll is seeking monetary damages as well as a retraction of remarks Trump previously made. She first came forward with the allegations in 2019 as she promoted her book highlighting “hideous men” from her life. It is titled, What Do We Need Men For? She claims to have been sexually assaulted well over a dozen times throughout her life and filed this particular suit in November after the Adult Survivors Act went into effect, essentially nixing the statute of limitations for this case. Notably, she sued Trump for defamation in 2019 as well.
Trump stood by his remarks, deeming Carroll’s accusations a “complete con job,” and he has shared various controversial social media posts from the writer over the last few weeks, showcasing his accuser’s hypocrisy.
“How do you know your ‘unwanted sexual advance’ is unwanted, until you advance it?” one 2015 post shared by Trump reads.
“Sex Tip I Learned From My Dog: When in heat, chase the male until he collapses with exhaustion … then jump him!” another reads:
Nevertheless, in September, U.S. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that Trump defamed Carroll in 2019 when he denied that he raped her. Carroll could not remember the year of the alleged assault, and there were no witnesses to back her claims. But because the jury decided Trump was liable for sexual battery and defaming Carroll, Kaplan deemed Trump’s remarks to be defamatory. The jury awarded her $5 million in damages. The second lawsuit, however, stems from comments Trump made in 2019.
RELATED — E. Jean Carroll Attorney Kaplan: We Are Exploring Options to Sue Trump Again for CNN Town Hall Comments
It should come as no surprise that those supporting Carroll are known Democrat Party activists, one of whom led the feminist “Time’s Up” movement. Further, Judge Kaplan has close connections to one of Carroll’s attorneys, Shawn Crowley.
As Breitbart News detailed:
Indeed, one of Carroll’s attorneys is Roberta Kaplan — a Democrat Party activist who led the group Time’s Up. She left the activist group after it was revealed she was aiding former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in attempting to discredit the Democrat’s accusers. It served as a great irony as Time’s Up seeks to defend women from what it claims is discrimination and harassment. This fact has led to mounting speculation that Kaplan only gets involved in cases that she views as politically expedient.
Further, Federal District Judge Lewis Kaplan is overseeing the process and has connections to Carroll’s other attorney, Shawn Crowley. She was actually a law clerk for Judge Kaplan, and he officiated her wedding.
That aside, Trump has denied knowing the left-wing activist as the only evidence of any contact is a single picture with Carroll greeting Trump and his ex-wife Ivana at an event greeting line over 35 years ago. Carroll has yet to provide solid evidence of this alleged encounter and will not use the dress that she claims had DNA on it from this alleged incident. Even Trump publicly said the dress should be part of the case. Further, there are no eyewitnesses of this alleged incident, which supposedly occurred at the popular New York City department store.
Furthermore, Carroll is backed by Democrat mega-donor Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, who said in March 2023 that he would “spend as much as I possibly can and it takes and is effective [to beat Trump].” The New York Times reported that he helped pay for Carroll’s lawsuit, and he has confirmed that fact himself.
The billionaire, who admitted to visiting convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, has also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Stand for America PAC, which is backing Haley in the GOP primary.
“So why Nikki Haley? Plainly, because Governor Haley is also the only Republican nominee other than Trump with any chance of winning the GOP nomination,” Hoffman wrote, explaining his decision to back Haley.
He continued:
While we are fighting to defend the idea of America from the threat of Trumpism, we need to engage with people with whom we disagree about many areas of policy and culture. Nikki Haley would not be as good for America as Joe Biden, but America would survive her administration.
Further, Hoffman’s chief political adviser Dmitri Mehlhorn openly identified their goal as “weakening the political power of the anti-American Trump-MAGA movement.”
That, goal, however, has failed to materialize as Trump pocketed a historic win in the Iowa caucuses, ironically in the same week the penalty phase of the anti-Trump trial kicks off.
The court proceedings this week will decide the amount of Trump’s damages. According to NBC News, “Trump’s attorney Alina Habba said in her opening statement yesterday that Carroll didn’t suffer damages from Trump’s remarks, but rather has gained fame and status and sought to further her career with her lawsuits.”
Trump appeared in the courtroom on Tuesday, the day after his historic Iowa victory. Carroll will testify on Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump leaves his apartment building in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Trump plans to attend the penalty phase of a New York civil defamation trial stemming from a columnist’s claims he sexually attacked her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. (Seth Wenig/AP)
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/17/trump-accuser-e-jean-carroll-backed-by-known-democrat-party-activists-mega-donor-reid-hoffman-who-backs-haley/