Trump calls judge ‘abusive’ for not delaying trial so he can attend mother-in-law’s funeral

WASHINGTON TIMES

Former President Donald Trump sharply criticized the judge overseeing his defamation case with E. Jean Carroll for not delaying the trial so he could attend the funeral of his mother-in-law Thursday.

“Now, because I want to be at this Witch Hunt 100% of the time and watch what is going on, my attorneys asked the judge for a one day delay so that I can attend the funeral of my beloved mother-in-law, with my wife and the entire family, tomorrow in Palm Beach, Florida, ” he wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.

He wrote in a second post that the judge “angrily and somewhat surprisingly, said NO, you can go to the trial, or you can go to the funeral, but not both. He is abusive, rude, and obviously not impartial but, that’s the way the crooked system works!”

Mr. Trump is on day two of the trial to determine how much damages he owes Ms. Carroll over comments he made in 2019. A jury has previously awarded her $5 million after finding the former president liable for sex abuse and defamation in 2022.

Mr. Trump did not attend that trial, and he is not required to attend the current one.

After his mother-in-law’s death on Jan. 9, the former president’s lawyers asked the court to adjourn the trial for a week so he could attend the funeral. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied the request last week in a memo that said postponing the trial would “disrupt and inconvenience prospective jurors, counsel, court staff and security arrangements.”

The memo also said Mr. Trump is “free to attend the funeral, the trial or both.”