I agree with you about Trump’s threats to the First Amendment, and his delusion that he is not subject to the law. The interesting thing, however, is that Trump only decided to settle the case once ABC’s counsel subpoenaed Trump to testify under oath in a deposition about the circumstances of his sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll. Trump was desperate to avoid questioning under oath about what he did, so that is why he took the settlement. Clearly there were things that Trump definitely didn’t want the public to know about his abhorrent behavior.
I don’t know if Trump has settled the defamation judgment Ms. Carroll obtained against him. Given Trump’s propensity for stiffing his creditors, I would not be surprised if he has not. If he hasn’t satisfied his judgment, it seems to me justice would be served if Trump had to hand over his ABC settlement to E. Jean Carroll to satisfy her judgment against him.
The bad thing about the settlement is that ABC is giving every impression of doing exactly the thing Timothy Snyder says to avoid when dealing with fascism, and that is not to consent in advance. Joe and Mika made the same mistake when they went down to Mar a Lago to meet with Trump. That also gives the impression of consenting in advance.
I agree with you about Trump’s threats to the First Amendment, and his delusion that he is not subject to the law. The interesting thing, however, is that Trump only decided to settle the case once ABC’s counsel subpoenaed Trump to testify under oath in a deposition about the circumstances of his sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll. Trump was desperate to avoid questioning under oath about what he did, so that is why he took the settlement. Clearly there were things that Trump definitely didn’t want the public to know about his abhorrent behavior.
I don’t know if Trump has settled the defamation judgment Ms. Carroll obtained against him. Given Trump’s propensity for stiffing his creditors, I would not be surprised if he has not. If he hasn’t satisfied his judgment, it seems to me justice would be served if Trump had to hand over his ABC settlement to E. Jean Carroll to satisfy her judgment against him.
The bad thing about the settlement is that ABC is giving every impression of doing exactly the thing Timothy Snyder says to avoid when dealing with fascism, and that is not to consent in advance. Joe and Mika made the same mistake when they went down to Mar a Lago to meet with Trump. That also gives the impression of consenting in advance.