newsinsightplus.com
- 1990s
- 2023Top
- January 25, 2024
- 0 Comments
BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaTrump provided a rapid-fire testimony in New York defamation trialPublished32 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Brandon Livesay and Nada TawfikReporting from court in New YorkDonald Trump has testified in the defamation trial brought by writer E Jean Carroll, but his much-anticipated time on the stand was kept brief.The civil trial focuses on defamatory comments Mr Trump made about Ms Carroll in 2019 while in the White House.He was found liable of sexually assaulting Ms Carroll in the 1990s, though he continues to deny the attack.But it is for that reason, the court had to spend much time debating the scope of his testimony on Thursday.Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, insisted that the former president limit the topics he discussed on the stand, since a separate trial found him liable of sexually assaulting Ms Carroll. That resulted in the judge and lawyers spending much more time arguing about what Mr Trump would be allowed to talk about than, compared to his four minutes of testimony. Judge Kaplan said the first trial established the facts and the only issue remaining was how much Mr Trump must pay Carroll, if anything. He left no room for the current Republican presidential frontrunner to go beyond the agreed terms, making it impossible for him to launch into a monologue or to campaign from the witness stand.It’s perhaps a lesson learned from one of Mr Trump’s other legal battles, of which there are many. In a New York civil fraud trial earlier this month, Mr Trump was initially told he could not give his closing argument. The judge in that case asked whether Mr Trump would keep it short and stick to the matters of the case.Mr Trump responded by launching into a six-minute monologue that included claims he was a victim of political persecution. The defamation trial on Thursday gave the 77-year-old a far shorter leash. He was asked if he stood by his deposition, he said: “100% yes”.His lawyer Alina Habba then asked if he denied Ms Carroll’s accusation – “that’s exactly right, Yes I did,” he responded. He went on to say “she said something that I considered a false accusation — totally false.” But Judge Kaplan quickly cut Mr Trump off and told the jury to ignore that last statement.Finally, Ms Habba asked if her client had ever instructed anyone to hurt Ms Carroll, to which Mr Trump said: “No, I just wanted to defend myself, my family and frankly, the presidency.” The judge again ordered the latter part stricken from the record.E Jean Carroll trial: Judge threatens to remove Trump from courtJury finds Trump sexually abused writer in NY storeAnd with that, the testimony was over, but by no means was Mr Trump done speaking his mind. As he gruffly left the courtroom, a reporter with WCBS heard Mr Trump complaining: “It’s not America. This is not America”.Earlier in the day, Judge Kaplan warned him to stop interrupting proceedings by “talking loudly”. That included a moment when he was heard muttering under his breath that he had “never met this woman (Carroll)”.Image source, ReutersImage caption, Trump looks on as his lawyer Alina Habba questions former New York TV news anchor Carol MartinBut it’s somewhat familiar territory when watching one of Mr Trump’s trials. While in court, he has often tested its limits and taken significant legal risks.Testifying outside of the limitations outlined by the judge on Thursday could have theoretically caused Mr Trump to face hefty fines or even five years in prison for perjury.But playing by his own rules is keeping Mr Trump’s base invested and tuned into his many legal troubles. And more importantly, it’s leading to considerable press coverage at a particularly important time for the politician. After the New Hampshire primary brought him another significant win, the former New York real estate mogul appears set to become the Republican presidential nominee. But that may well be why his behaviour is unlikely to change: It has proved to be a key aspect of his winning campaign.Ronnell Andersen Jones, a professor of law at the University of Utah, told BBC News that this case shows the “wide gap” between Mr Trump’s strategies in court and on the campaign trail.While the former president and his lawyers may want to convince the jury that his comments in the White House did not show “ill will that warrants punitive damages”, that is easier said than done considering his actions. “This will be a hard row to hoe, given that this same jury is daily receiving new evidence that the defendant, outside the courtroom, continues to spread the lie undeterred,” Ms Jones said.The defamation trial will resume on Friday at 09:30 ET (14:30 GMT) with closing arguments. It is not yet known if Mr Trump will attend.Related TopicsNew York CityUS & CanadaDonald TrumpMore on this storyTrump ‘unleashed’ followers on Carroll, says lawyerPublished17 JanuaryHow big are Donald Trump’s legal problems?Published20 December 2023Top StoriesFamilies’ anger as triple killer gets hospital orderPublished54 minutes agoWatch: Killer’s rampage and arrest caught on camera. VideoWatch: Killer’s rampage and arrest caught on cameraPublished10 hours agoUK ends Canada trade talks over beef rulesPublished31 minutes agoFeaturesCould the UK’s ‘pre-war generation’ become a citizen army?Downed Russian plane leaves unanswered questionsWhy a key crime stat doesn’t tell the full story about sexual offencesThe secrets of Claudia Winkleman’s Traitors styleHow many countries still have the death penalty?UK to loan back Ghana’s looted ‘crown jewels’The crime hotspot helping ex-offenders go straightPostcode check: How’s the NHS coping in your area?Chris Mason: Has Sunak seen off latest Tory wobbles?Elsewhere on the BBCCan you guess what’s happening in an advert you can’t see?Chris McCausland asks a panel of comedians to live in an audio only worldAttributionSoundsHow did Britain lead the world into the jet age?An unlikely story of outstanding aviation achievement at a time of national austerityAttributioniPlayer’Comedy saved my life’First broadcast in 2010, hear Frank Skinner’s desert island picks and personal revelationsAttributionSoundsThe mysterious deaths of Nazi fugitivesThree brothers investigate whether a family connection may explain the truthAttributioniPlayerMost Read1BBC defends Dragons’ Den after ME criticism2UK ends Canada trade talks over beef rules3Police took father to hospital weeks before deaths4Mars crash ends Nasa helicopter Ingenuity’s mission5Abandoned baby leaves hospital with foster parents6Families’ anger as triple killer gets hospital order7Baby kept in Lidl bag before being dumped, court told8Post Office told workers to pay back robbery losses9Could the UK’s ‘pre-war generation’ become a citizen army?10Sturgeon called Johnson a ‘clown’, inquiry hears
[ad_1] Finally, Ms Habba asked if her client had ever instructed anyone to hurt Ms Carroll, to which Mr Trump said: “No, I just wanted to defend myself, my family…
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaIgor Girkin shot down a passenger jet, then insulted Putin. Which one put him in jail?Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, MAXIM SHIPENKOV/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockImage caption, Igor Girkin has escaped justice for downing flight MH17 but is going to jail after criticising Vladimir PutinBy Steve RosenbergRussia Editor, MoscowThe last time I saw Igor Girkin was five years ago in the stairwell of a Moscow news agency.”Would you consider giving me an interview?” I asked. “No,” he replied sharply and scurried away.I saw him again today. No stairwell. This time, Girkin was in a caged dock surrounded by police in the Moscow City Court. Along with other media we were allowed in to film him for just one minute before the end of his trial. A police dog kept barking. Girkin found that amusing. The verdict less so. Minutes later he was found guilty on extremism charges and sentenced to four years in a penal colony. This wasn’t his first conviction. In The Hague in 2022, in absentia, Girkin was found guilty of the murder of 298 people: the passengers and crew of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. The Boeing jet had been shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014 by Russian-controlled forces in the early stages of Russia’s war there. Girkin was one of three men sentenced to life imprisonment. A judgement he ignored.A year after we’d met in the stairwell, I managed to get through to Girkin on the phone and ask him about the Hague. “I do not recognise the authority of the Dutch court on this matter,” he told me. “I am a military man and I am not going to accept that a civilian court in a foreign country has the authority to convict a person who took part in someone else’s civil war, only because their civilians were killed.”Do you know who shot down [the plane]?””The rebels didn’t shoot down the Boeing. I have nothing more to say.”This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Russian rebel commander Igor Girkin told the BBC in 2020 he did not recognise the court’s authority”If it wasn’t the rebels, then was it Russian soldiers?” I asked.”That’s it. Goodbye.” He hung up. Now he is going to prison. But not for mass murder. And not for life. So, who exactly is Girkin – also known under his pseudonym as Igor Strelkov – and why has a Moscow court sent him to jail?He is a former FSB officer in Russia’s domestic security service. In 2014 he played a key role in the fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region: a conflict engineered and orchestrated by Moscow.He organised and commanded pro-Russia militias in eastern Ukraine. The Dutch court would later rule that Russia had been in control of the separatist forces fighting in eastern Ukraine and that Girkin had helped to bring the Buk missile system into Ukraine that was used to shoot down flight MH17. Three guilty of downing airliner over UkrainePutin critic Girkin wants Russia presidential runFollowing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, ultranationalist Girkin became a prominent pro-war blogger. He became increasingly critical of the way the Russian authorities were waging the war: not hard enough, in his view. He founded a hard line nationalist movement called The Club of Angry Patriots. His problems began when he started to take that anger out on President Vladimir Putin. Public criticisms of the Russian president turned to insults. In a post last year, Girkin described Putin as “a non-entity” and “a cowardly waste of space”. A few days later he was arrested. Now he’s been tried and convicted. Of course, a four-year prison sentence is mild in comparison to other recent punishments delivered by Russian courts. Last year pro-democracy activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to a quarter of a century behind bars after being convicted of treason, a case he and his supporters insist was politically motivated.Putin critic jailed for 25 years in Russia’Send back our husbands’ – Russian women in rare protestHow would the “Angry Patriots” react to Girkin’s prison term? Would they pour on to the streets in protest? Image source, MAXIM SHIPENKOV/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockImage caption, Some of Girkin supporters were detained outside the court in MoscowNot exactly. A few dozen supporters gathered outside the Moscow City Court to chant “Freedom to Strelkov!” but there was little hint of optimism in their voices. “They’ve put a Russian national patriot on trial,” Denis tells me. “I hope our people wake up and fight. Unfortunately, we don’t see much pushback. Everyone seems to be hiding away.”Also in the crowd was retired colonel and outspoken ultranationalist Vladimir Kvachkov.Having informed me that “Russia will always be the enemy of the Anglo-Saxon West” and assured me that the break-up of the United Kingdom was inevitable, Mr Kvachkov claimed that Girkin was being punished for “fighting against the system.”In recent years the “system” concentrated on clearing the Russian political landscape of pro-democracy, pro-Western critics and challengers. A prison sentence for Girkin suggests the Russian authorities have now decided to crackdown on critics from the opposite end of spectrum: the so-called ultra-patriots. Last year’s mutiny by Wagner mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin may be the reason. The Putin system survived the challenge. But that drama will have alerted the Kremlin to the potential dangers from highly motivated nationalistic and patriotic elements in Russian society.Related TopicsWar in UkraineRussiaVladimir PutinMore on this storyPutin critic Girkin wants Russia presidential runPublished19 November 2023Pro-war Putin critic Strelkov detained in MoscowPublished21 July 2023Wanted Russian rebel scorns MH17 trial. Video, 00:01:25Wanted Russian rebel scorns MH17 trialPublished9 March 20201:25Top StoriesFamilies’ anger as triple killer gets hospital orderPublished24 minutes agoWatch: Killer’s rampage and arrest caught on camera. VideoWatch: Killer’s rampage and arrest caught on cameraPublished4 hours agoSturgeon called Johnson a ‘clown’, inquiry hearsPublished28 minutes agoFeaturesCould the UK’s ‘pre-war generation’ become a citizen army?Downed Russian plane leaves unanswered questionsWhy a key crime stat doesn’t tell the full story about sexual offencesThe secrets of Claudia Winkleman’s Traitors styleHow many countries still have the death penalty?UK to loan back Ghana’s looted ‘crown jewels’The crime hotspot helping ex-offenders go straightPostcode check: How’s the NHS coping in your area?Chris Mason: Has Sunak seen off latest Tory wobbles?Elsewhere on the BBCCan you guess what’s happening in an advert you can’t see?Chris McCausland asks a panel of comedians to live in an audio only worldAttributionSoundsHow did Britain lead the world into the jet age?An unlikely story of outstanding aviation achievement at a time of national austerityAttributioniPlayer’Comedy saved my life’First broadcast in 2010, hear Frank Skinner’s desert island picks and personal revelationsAttributionSoundsThe mysterious deaths of Nazi fugitivesThree brothers investigate whether a family connection may explain the truthAttributioniPlayerMost Read1NHS consultants reject offer of double pay rise2Families’ anger as triple killer gets hospital order3Tom Holland bonus sent to Tom Hollander in error4Baby kept in Lidl bag before being dumped, court told5Foreign Office warns man running length of Africa6Microsoft lays off 1,900 gaming division staff7Sturgeon called Johnson a ‘clown’, inquiry hears8Lloyds to cut 1,600 jobs in major branch overhaul9Russian ‘ultra-patriot’ jailed after insulting Putin10Could the UK’s ‘pre-war generation’ become a citizen army?](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/D6E5/production/_132431055_girkin.jpg)
