Trump’s Own Attorney RECUSES From Carroll Case Conflict EXPOSED

Added: 2026-06-10

[00:00:00]A jury in New York finding Donald Trump, the Republican presidential [music] frontrunner by far, liable for sexually abusing [music] and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The jury also awarding the for- former magazine columnist nearly $5 million in damages to be paid by Mr. Trump. Carroll walked out of the Manhattan courthouse just moments ago with her lawyer, who said that they are, quote, "very happy with the jury's decision." [music] Carroll's lawsuit stem from an encounter between her and Trump in a New York department store dressing room in 1996 Bergdorf Goodman's, where she claims Donald Trump sexually assaulted her.

[00:00:42]Donald Trump just reacted on his social media platform, writing in all caps, quote, "I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. This verdict is a disgrace, a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time." Unquote. This all comes as Trump is facing another very serious case in New York City, just like >> So, we need to talk about something absolutely revealing about what's happening with Trump's legal team in the E. Jean Carroll cases. Because Trump's legal strategy in the Carroll cases has been to attack the judge, Trump's lawyers have been filing motions claiming that Judge Lewis Kaplan has conflicts of interest and should recuse himself from the cases. Trump's lawyers have been trying to get the judge thrown off the case by claiming that the judge has some kind of prior relationship with Carroll's lawyer. But while Trump's legal team has been making these conflict accusations against the judge, one of Trump's own most important lawyers has been forced to recuse himself from another case because of a real, genuine conflict of interest related to his work on the Carroll appeals.

[00:01:39]But before we go any further, real quick, let's be honest, you can't really trust mainstream media anymore. That's why we built Pump Politics to bring you real stories, real context, and no corporate spin. If you want to stay ahead of the headlines, join our free newsletter. We'll send the news straight to your inbox every day. Just click the link in the description to join. And if you just want to support what we're doing, join us. Be part of the community that actually cares about the truth. All right, let's get back to the video.

[00:02:05]>> Von Hilliard, we haven't explicitly said this, but let's say it right now. This is a former president of the United States being found liable not just for defamation, but for sexually assaulting a woman. And part of what makes this so monumental is that there were so many allegations in 2016 and beyond that Donald Trump did just that to a lot of different women.

[00:02:34]He always denied each and every one of them. Sometimes he would say, "I've never met the person." Sometimes he would say, "They're not my type." He said that with Jessica Leeds. He also said that about E. Jean Carroll. And that's the moment where Roberta Kaplan played that video deposition where he mistook E. Jean Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples arguing E. Jean Carroll was exactly his type. But again, going back, he has been accused of this a lot over the years, especially since he started running for president. He'd always denied it.

[00:03:08]>> So, Trump's legal team is out there crying conflict of interest about judges while Trump's own lawyers are being forced to step aside because of actual conflicts. Trump's legal team is projecting conflict accusations outward at the judges and the opposing counsel while quietly grappling with genuine conflict issues inside their own operation. And this reveals something really important about what Trump's legal strategy has become. Trump's legal strategy is not to win cases on the merits. Trump's legal strategy is to attack the judges, attack the courts, attack the system, and try to delegitimize the proceedings. But in doing that, Trump's team is running into their own ethical and conflict problems that expose the weakness of their actual legal position. According to ABC News reporting, prominent Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche has been recused from a particular case because he personally worked on Trump's Carroll appeals. Blanche was a key part of Trump's appellate strategy in the Carroll cases. Blanche was involved in trying to overturn the verdicts, but now, because of that prior involvement with the Carroll appeals, Blanche has a conflict of interest that prevents him from working on another Trump matter. In other words, Blanche's work on trying to appeal the Carroll cases has created a conflict that makes him unable to work on other Trump cases. And at the same time that Blanche was being forced to recuse himself from his other work because of his Carroll involvement, Trump's other lawyers were filing motions claiming that Judge Lewis Kaplan should recuse himself from the Carroll cases because of a supposed conflict of interest. Trump's lawyers were claiming that Judge Kaplan had a mentor-type relationship with Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, from back in the 1990s when they worked at the same law firm.

[00:04:38]Trump's lawyers were arguing that Judge Kaplan should have disclosed this prior relationship as a potential conflict of interest.

[00:04:45]But here's what happened. After Carroll's lawyer provided a detailed explanation saying that she and the judge had only briefly overlapped at a large law firm, and that she did not recall any direct interaction with him or any mentor-mentee relationship, Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, backed off the conflict claim. Habba sent a follow-up letter saying she was content that no mentor-mentee relationship existed, and that the matter appeared to be settled. In other words, Trump's lawyers made the conflict accusations, but when challenged, they backed down.

[00:05:13]They couldn't actually support the claim that Judge Kaplan had a conflict. And legal experts told Forbes and Reuters that Trump's conflict accusation was bogus and self-defeating. All right, so let's understand what's really happening here with Trump's legal strategy and what the conflicts and recusals actually reveal about the state of Trump's legal operation because this is a really revealing snapshot of how Trump's cases are going and how Trump's legal team is responding to repeated losses. Trump's legal team is not winning cases on the merits. Trump's legal team is losing repeatedly. Two juries found against Trump in the Carroll cases. Appeals courts upheld those verdicts. Trump's legal arguments have been rejected by every court. So, instead of accepting those losses, Trump's legal team is attacking the judge, attacking the courts, and making conflict of interest accusations. But, the conflict of interest accusations are not credible.

[00:06:01]Trump's lawyers claim that Judge Kaplan had a conflict because he worked at the same law firm as Carroll's lawyer in the 1990s. But, that's an extraordinarily weak basis for a conflict claim. Judges work at law firms. Judges have worked with many other lawyers over the course of their careers. It's completely normal and completely common for judges to have had prior professional relationships with lawyers who appear before them years later. That's not a conflict of interest unless there's evidence of actual bias or actual impropriety. And there was no evidence of that in Judge Kaplan's case. And the fact that Trump's lawyers raised this conflict claim after the verdict was rendered and Trump had lost makes the claim look even more suspicious.

[00:06:39]If Trump's lawyers really believed there was a conflict, why didn't they raise it before the trial? Why didn't they raise it when Judge Kaplan was first assigned to the case? Why did they wait until after they lost to claim that the judge should have recused himself? The answer is obvious. Trump's lawyers raised the conflict claim because they lost, not because they actually believed there was a conflict. The conflict claim is a post hoc rationalization for a loss that Trump cannot accept. And legal experts immediately saw through this. Legal experts told Forbes that Trump's conflict claim was bogus. Legal experts told Reuters that Trump's claim was self-defeating. Experts noted that it's normal for judges to have worked with many lawyers years earlier. Experts noted that raising a conflict claim only after losing the case undermines the credibility of the claim. In other words, legal experts immediately recognized that Trump's conflict accusations were not legitimate legal arguments. They were just attacks on the judge that had no factual or legal basis. So, while Trump's legal team was making these bogus conflict accusations against the judge and against Carroll's lawyer, one of Trump's own most important attorneys, Todd Blanche, was being forced to recuse himself from another case because of a real genuine conflict of interest. Blanche had worked on Trump's Carroll appeals. That work created a conflict that made him unable to work on other Trump matters. This is a real conflict. This is the kind of thing that actually requires recusal.

[00:07:53]But it's not Judge Kaplan or Carroll's lawyer who has the conflict, it's Trump's own lawyer who has the real conflict problem. And this is absolutely revealing about what's happening with Trump's legal operation. Trump's team is so wrapped up in the Carroll cases, filing appeals, trying to overturn verdicts, trying to attack the judge, that conflicts are now rippling through the entire operation. Key members of Trump's legal team are now recused from working on other matters because they've been so involved in the Carroll litigation. And instead of recognizing that their own conflicts are the problem, Trump's team is projecting conflict accusations outward at the judges and the opposing counsel. And it gets even worse because Trump's legal team on the Carroll cases has been cycling through lawyers. According to reporting, three lawyers, including Joe Tacopina, withdrew from representing Trump in the Carroll matters. Tacopina and his colleagues are no longer working on the Carroll cases. And according to another Trump-aligned attorney, Tacopina messed up the case and mismanaged the trial strategy. In other words, Trump's original legal team on the Carroll case performed so poorly that they had to be replaced. Trump had to hire different lawyers. But the new legal team is no better. Trump is still losing appeals.

[00:08:57]Trump is still losing in court. Trump is still paying nearly $90 million in damages.

[00:09:02]And the cycle of losing and then attacking the judge and then recusing and then hiring new lawyers and then losing again is now the pattern of Trump's Carroll litigation. Trump loses at trial. Trump appeals. Trump's appeals are rejected. Trump attacks the judge.

[00:09:17]Trump's team recuses themselves from other matters because of Carroll conflicts. Trump hires new lawyers. The new lawyers lose appeals. The cycle continues. And throughout all of this, Trump is getting further and further behind legally and financially. Trump is paying nearly $90 million in damages.

[00:09:32]Trump's appeals have all been rejected.

[00:09:34]Courts have explicitly said Trump cannot reargue whether the assault happened, but Trump keeps fighting anyway. And the conflict between what Trump's team is doing and what the facts actually show is stark. Trump's team is claiming that judges and opposing counsel have conflicts, but the only real conflicts are within Trump's own legal operation.

[00:09:53]Trump's own lawyers are being recused because of conflicts. Trump's own lawyers are quitting the cases because they're losing so badly. Trump's own lawyers are being accused of messing up the trial strategy. These are the real conflicts. These are the real problems.

[00:10:06]But instead of addressing those problems, Trump's team is attacking the judge. And this is a window into how Trump's entire legal operation has become corrupted by his inability to accept losses. Trump cannot accept that he lost the Carroll cases. Trump cannot accept that two juries found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump cannot accept that appeals courts have upheld the verdicts against him. So instead of accepting those losses, Trump is attacking the judge, attacking the court system, and making bogus conflict of interest claims. And in the process, Trump's legal team is so consumed with the Carroll cases and the appeals that real conflicts are developing within his legal operation. So let's talk about what this all reveals about Trump's legal position and about how Trump is handling his legal problems. Because the pattern that's emerging is clear. Trump loses a case. Trump cannot accept the loss. Trump attacks the judge and makes conflict of interest accusations.

[00:10:56]Trump's team makes baseless claims about bias and impropriety. Trump hires new lawyers and keeps fighting, but the new lawyers also lose. Appeals are rejected.

[00:11:06]Verdicts are upheld. Trump pays more money, and the cycle continues. And throughout all of this, Trump's own legal team is fractured and broken by the conflicts and the disputes about who messed up and why the cases keep being lost. And the first important thing to understand is that legitimate conflict of interest claims are based on facts and evidence. A judge has a real conflict if there's evidence that the judge has a financial interest in the outcome or a family relationship with one of the parties or some other actual basis for bias, but Trump's claim that Judge Kaplan had a conflict because he worked at the same law firm as Carroll's lawyer in the 1990s is not based on any evidence of actual bias or impropriety.

[00:11:43]It's based on the fact that they worked at the same firm. That's not a conflict.

[00:11:46]That's just the reality of how legal careers work. And the second important thing is that raising the conflict claim after losing a case is a red flag. It suggests that the claim is not legitimate. It suggests that the conflict claim is really just a post- talk rationalization for a loss. If Trump's lawyers really believe there was a conflict, they would have raised it before the trial or at the beginning of the case, not after they had lost. The timing of Trump's conflict claim, coming after the verdict, undermines the credibility of the claim.

[00:12:14]And the third important thing is understanding that while Trump's team is making bogus conflict claims against judges, Trump's own lawyers are running into real conflict problems. Todd Blanche had to recuse himself from another case because of his work on the Carroll appeals. That's a real conflict.

[00:12:29]That's the kind of conflict that actually requires recusal. And it's a conflict within Trump's own legal team, not a conflict on the other side. And the fourth important thing is the pattern of Trump's legal team cycling through lawyers. Joe Tacopina and his colleagues quit the Carroll cases. Trump had to hire new lawyers. And those new lawyers have also lost repeatedly.

[00:12:49]Appeals have been rejected. Verdicts have been upheld. This pattern of lawyer turnover and repeated losses suggests that Trump does not have a strong legal position in the Carroll cases. If Trump had a strong legal case, he would not need to keep cycling through lawyers. If Trump had valid legal arguments, his appeals would not keep being rejected.

[00:13:07]And the fifth important thing is understanding that this conflict between what Trump's team is claiming and what the facts actually show reveals something important about Trump's character and his attitude toward the rule of law. Trump is claiming that judges are biased and have conflicts of interest, but Trump is not making those claims based on actual evidence. Trump is making those claims because he lost and he cannot accept the loss. Trump is attacking the judge because Trump thinks the judge should have decided the case in Trump's favor, but the judge did not.

[00:13:33]The jury did not. Two different juries found against Trump, but Trump cannot accept that. And the sixth important thing is recognizing that this is part of a broader pattern of Trump attacking judges and the courts whenever he loses.

[00:13:45]Trump has claimed that judges are biased in many different cases. Trump has claimed that judges have conflicts of interest in many different cases. Trump has claimed that the courts are unfair whenever he loses. But the pattern here is that Trump raises these claims not because there's actual evidence of bias or conflict, but because Trump thinks he should have won. Trump thinks that any judge who rules against him must be biased. Trump thinks that any adverse ruling must be unfair. And the seventh important thing is understanding that Trump's conduct toward the courts and the judges is fundamentally inconsistent with the rule of law. In a system governed by the rule of law, people accept the decisions of the courts.

[00:14:20]People accept that judges and juries have authority. People accept that verdicts are final, but Trump is not accepting any of that. Trump is attacking judges. Trump is making baseless conflict of interest claims.

[00:14:30]Trump is appealing verdicts that have been repeatedly upheld. Trump is refusing to accept the authority of the courts. This is not respect for the rule of law. This is contempt for the rule of law. And the eighth important thing is the contrast between what Trump's team is doing and what legitimate appellate advocacy looks like. Legitimate appellate advocacy involves arguing that the trial court made a legal error.

[00:14:52]Legitimate appellate advocacy involves pointing to specific instances where the court misapplied the law or abused its discretion. Legitimate appellate advocacy does not involve making bogus conflict of interest claims after losing a case. Legitimate appellate advocacy does not involve attacking the judge personally. But that's what Trump's team is doing. Trump's team is not making serious legal arguments. Trump's team is attacking the judge. And the ninth important thing is understanding that this entire Carroll saga reveals something fundamental about how Trump responds to losing. Trump cannot accept losses. Trump blames judges for losses rather than accepting that he lost on the merits. Trump attacks the court system rather than accepting court decisions.

[00:15:33]Trump uses federal power like the DOJ to try to punish people who beat him in court. This is not the behavior of someone who respects the rule of law.

[00:15:41]This is the behavior of someone who views the legal system as a tool that should serve his interest rather than as an independent arbiter of justice.

[00:15:49]And the 10th important thing is the human cost of all of this. Carroll won her cases. Two juries sided with her.

[00:15:55]Appeals courts upheld the verdicts.

[00:15:57]Carroll is entitled to the judgments that the courts have awarded her, but instead of paying those judgments and moving on, Trump is continuing to attack Carroll. Trump is filing appeals that have no legal basis. Trump's DOJ is investigating Carroll. Trump's legal team is making baseless conflict claims.

[00:16:13]Throughout all of this, Carroll is being dragged through continued litigation and continued attacks by Trump and his administration.

[00:16:20]So, what we're looking at is a sitting president who lost civil cases, cannot accept those losses, and is using every tool at his disposal to attack the judges, attack the courts, attack the opposing counsel, and punish the person who beat him. Trump's legal team is so consumed with the Carroll cases that real conflicts are developing within the team. Trump's legal team is cycling through lawyers because the cases are being lost so badly. Trump's legal team is making bogus conflict accusations against judges instead of making legitimate legal arguments. And Trump himself is using federal power to investigate and potentially prosecute the woman who sued him and beat him in court. This is a comprehensive assault on the rule of law and on the independence of the courts. This is a president who does not accept that courts have authority over him. This is a president who views the legal system as a tool that should serve his interest rather than as an independent arbiter of justice. And it represents a genuine threat to democracy and the rule of law in America. Trump's conduct in the Carroll cases and in and responses to other legal defeats shows that Trump will use his power to attack the courts, punish his opponents, and refuse to accept judicial decisions. That is fundamentally incompatible with a functioning democracy.

[00:17:26]And let's really understand what Todd Blanche's recusal from another case actually means, and why it's so revealing about what's happening with Trump's legal operation. Because a recusal is not a minor administrative matter. A recusal is a significant step that happens when there's a real conflict of interest that prevents a lawyer from working on a matter. The fact that Blanche had to recuse himself from a case because of his work on the Carroll appeals, means that his Carroll work was so substantial and so involved that it created a conflict that extend to other matters.

[00:17:56]Think about what that means. Blanche was so deeply involved in Trump's Carroll appeals that now he cannot work on other Trump cases. That's a level of involvement that suggests Blanche was a key member of Trump's Carroll legal team. That's a level of involvement that has now created ripples throughout Trump's legal operation, preventing one of Trump's important lawyers from working on other matters. And while Blanche is being forced to recuse himself from other cases because of his Carroll involvement, Trump's team is out there making conflict accusations against judges and opposing counsel.

[00:18:24]The hypocrisy is almost too obvious.

[00:18:27]Trump's team is claiming that judges have conflicts because they worked at the same law firm as opposing counsel.

[00:18:33]Trump's team is claiming that judges should recuse themselves based on prior professional relationships. But Trump's own lawyers are being forced to recuse themselves from other matters because they were too involved in the Carroll cases. And Trump's team is the one with actual documented formal recusal requirements. Trump's team is the one with real conflict problems. But Trump's team is projecting those problems outward and claiming that the judges are the ones with the conflicts. And the fact that Joe Tacopina and his colleagues withdrew from the Carroll cases and were accused of messing up the trial strategy, shows how badly Trump's legal team has performed in these cases.

[00:19:07]If Trump's lawyers had done a good job, they would not have lost that trial. If Trump's lawyers had presented a compelling case, the jury would have sided with Trump. But two juries sided with Carroll. Two juries found Trump liable. Two juries awarded nearly $90 million in damages against Trump. And then Tacopina's team had to withdraw from the case, and new lawyers had to be brought in. And those new lawyers have also lost appeals. This pattern of lawyer turnover and repeated losses is devastating for Trump's legal position.

[00:19:34]It suggests that Trump's cases are so weak that multiple lawyers have failed to win them. It suggests that Trump does not have legitimate legal arguments that would persuade judges and juries. It suggests that Trump's legal position is fundamentally hopeless, which is why the lawyers keep cycling out and the appeals keep being rejected. And let's also understand what it means that Alina Habba backed off the conflict claim against Judge Kaplan. Habba is a Trump lawyer. Habba is defending Trump's interests. But even Habba could not sustain the conflict claim when Carroll's lawyer pushed back. When Roberta Kaplan provided a detailed explanation saying she did not recall any mentor-mentee relationship with Judge Kaplan, Habba immediately backed down. Habba sent a follow-up letter saying she was content that no conflict existed. In other words, Habba's conflict claim could not withstand even minimal scrutiny. When challenged, the claim collapsed.

[00:20:23]And that's the pattern with Trump's conflict accusations. They sound serious when they're first raised. They sound like legitimate legal arguments. But when they're examined, they fall apart.

[00:20:32]When opposing counsel responds with actual facts, Trump's conflict claims evaporate. This suggests that Trump's team is not making these claims based on actual evidence of bias or conflict.

[00:20:43]Trump's team is making these claims as a tactical matter, hoping they'll stick, but knowing that they don't have a strong factual basis.

[00:20:49]And the timing of Habba's backing off the conflict claim is important. Habba raised the claim in January 2024, which was after the second verdict had come down in January 2024. So Habba raised the conflict claim immediately after Trump had lost.

[00:21:04]Habba was raising a conflict claim as a reaction to a loss, not as a response to actual evidence of bias. And when the claim could not be sustained, Habba abandoned it. This is the pattern of Trump's legal strategy. Make a dramatic accusation, hope it sticks, when it doesn't, move on to the next accusation.

[00:21:20]And meanwhile, the real conflicts are within Trump's own legal team.

[00:21:24]Blanche is recused from other cases because of Carroll. Tacopina quit the Carroll cases. New lawyers are hired to replace Tacopina. Those new lawyers also lose appeals. And the whole time, Trump himself is directing the DOJ to investigate Carroll and the people who funded her lawsuit. Trump is using federal power to try to punish people who beat him in court. While Trump's legal team is internally fractured and cycling through lawyers, Trump is building a broader campaign to attack Carroll and undermine her verdicts using government power.

[00:21:53]And this shows how Trump's approach to the Carroll cases is fundamentally different from how normal people approach losing cases. Normal people accept losses. Normal people move on.

[00:22:02]Normal people pay judgments if they lose cases. But Trump does not accept losses.

[00:22:06]Trump cannot accept that he lost to Carroll. Trump cannot accept that two juries sided with her. Trump cannot accept that appeals courts have upheld the verdicts. So instead, Trump is attacking judges, making bogus conflict claims, cycling through lawyers, and directing federal investigators to go after Carroll. Trump is waging a comprehensive assault on the courts and on the person who beat him. And this is what the rule of law looks like when it's under attack from a sitting president. The president loses in court.

[00:22:32]The president cannot accept the loss.

[00:22:34]The president attacks the judge and the courts. The president's legal team makes baseless conflict accusations. The president's legal team fractures and cycles through lawyers. The president uses federal power to investigate and punish the person who beat him. This is not justice. This is not the rule of law. This is authoritarian abuse of presidential power.