2/ Bam!

It came up immediately, via Carroll's lawyer @kaplanrobbie.

She's reading it to judge.

Carroll's lawyer argues Trump's Truth Social posts violate 2 court orders, not to discuss lawyers or DNA issue.

Judge presses Trump's lawyer on latter issue: "[Trump], for 3 years, refused to give a DNA sample & now he wants it in the case?"

Judge Kaplan says Trump seems to be trying to communicate to his supporters, or even perhaps jurors, about issues that aren't supposed to be part of case.

3/ This is shaping up to be a protracted issue this morning, and perhaps, on ongoing one throughout the trial if Trump keeps posting.

Judge Kaplan says Trump's comments are "entirely inappropriate."

Tacopina says he'll "try to address that with my client."

😂🙄

4/ Tacopina says he'll ask him to "refrain from any further posts regarding this case."

Judge: "Well, I hope you're more successful," adding that Trump "may or may not be tampering with a new source of potential liability."

"And I think you know what I mean."🔥

Me: Not a good start, #FlopsweatTrump

5/ First witness up:

Cheryl Beall, ex-Bergdorf Goodman store manager

Robbie Kaplan questions her.

Q: Have you ever spoken to Ms. Carroll before?
A: No.

Q: Have you met her?
A: No. "I loved my job," Beall says.

Beall says that Bergdorf has a "more residential design" than the typical department store.

"You see a lot of furniture. There's a lot of space to walk around the store. It feels more like an apartment."

6/ Testimony turns to a detailed layout of the store.

Carroll's legal team wants to undercut a key argument of Trump's defense at trial — that someone would have noticed if a sexual assault took place in an upscale department store in Manhattan.

On cross-ex, Trump's lawyer questions Beall about the store's policies about retaining and/or providing security camera footage.

7/ Trump's attorney asks the witness whether their legal team reached out to her.

A: "Fairly recently, some investigators showed up at my home unannounced."

👉 👉 #EJeanCarroll is up now.

E. Jean Carroll:

"I'm here because Donald Trump raped me."👈 👈

9/ Remember, this thread is from @KlasfeldReports's reporting, not mine:

Carroll describes her impression of Trump as being a "raconteur" and "man about town."

She believed him to be a "sophisticated man who was entertaining to be around."

10/ [Okay, points to the attorney for asking why E Jean would find Trump attractive 🤢 ]

Q: Did you find him attractive?
A: Yes.

Q: Why?
A: He was very personable.

Asked about the timing of the alleged rape, Carroll acknowledges that she has struggled to remember the date, and she delves into context clues without a firm answer until Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina objects.

11/ Judge Kaplan adopts a wait-and-see approach and allows her to continue.

Carroll says she believes it was spring 1996, because her friend Lisa Birnbach published an article about Trump in February of that year, which involved a trip to MAL. Birnbach was one of two women Carroll says she told about the alleged rape.

"I believe that Lisa never would have gone down to Mar-a-Lago if she knew what [Trump] had done to me," she says.

Objection.
Overruled.

12/ Carroll said that the encounter began when she was leaving the store and Trump raised his hand up, imitating what she called the "universal" signal.

After Trump recognized her as the "advice lady," she replied: "Hey, you're that real estate tycoon," she says.

Much of this testimony mirrors her deposition on the subject, including Trump allegedly mocking her when she revealed her age.

"You are so old," Carroll quoted him saying, calling his inflection "humorous."

13/ After they went into the store to help Trump find a gift for a woman, Carroll says, Trump picked up a see-through, gray, body suit.

"It looks like a swimsuit, but this was see-through," she says. "It used to be called teddies."

She says Trump said: "Go put this on."

She called the remark "jesting, joshing."

She says she replied: "You put it on. It's your color."

14/ Carroll:

"I started looking on it as a Saturday Night Live sketch."

"Donald Trump was being very light, very joshing and pleasant, and very funny."

Q: Just to be clear, was Trump dragging you into the dressing room?
A: No.

Asked if she was flirting with Trump, she agrees that she was.

Asked if things were escalating, she replies that the "comedy was escalating."

15/ Carroll says that the opening of the door "plagued" her because she "walked into it."

She says Trump "shoved" her against the wall, adding that she was extremely confused.

Carroll: "I continued to laugh, because for a minute I thought maybe it was a mistake."

16/ Again, via @KlasfeldReports

#EJeanCarroll:

"He [#Trump], he was very large." [...]

"He leaned down and pulled down my tights."

"I was pushing him back. It was quite clear that I didn't want anything else to happen."

17/ Q: At any point during this encounter, do you recall saying no?
A: (softly) No.

She adds: "I don't *recall* saying it," adding she may have.

Asked if she screamed, Carroll said: "I'm not a screamer."

@GottaLaff Ah yes, the age old “why didn’t you fight back harder?” defense

As if a woman her size could just shove away a guy twice her size/weight