Billionaire Dem Donor Exposed for Bankrolling Trump Rape Accuser’s Lawsuit

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Reid Hoffman, a billionaire Democratic megadonor, recently defended his funding of a rape lawsuit against former President Donald Trump in an online post. Hoffman, a founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, expressed his support for E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against Trump. While Trump’s legal team tries to label Hoffman’s financial backing as ‘secret,’ he openly denies any attempts to hide his support. Hoffman elaborates that the rule of law ensures justice for all citizens, irrespective of their financial status or power – a concept he firmly believes in.

E. Jean Carroll, a journalist, and an advice columnist accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store changing room in the 1990s. The former President vehemently denied the allegations and labeled Carroll a liar. Prompted by this response, Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump, which is still pending. Additionally, a battery lawsuit is scheduled for trial in Manhattan federal court next week.

 

Trump’s legal team attempted to delay the lawsuit without success. Hoffman revealed in his post that, aside from Carroll, he has supported other ‘grantees’ in their legal pursuits. He cited other litigation examples that he has financially backed. Hoffman argued that Trump has often singled out women, with his hostility towards them being a dominant characteristic throughout his life.

Hoffman’s history of supporting women who strive for progress and justice in various fields, such as philanthropy, politics, and business, supplements his determined stance against Trump. He is proud of his efforts to help balance the scales in the courts for those who have been attacked and bullied by Trump and his allies. This desire to champion justice has led Hoffman to extend his support to Carroll’s lawsuit.

Although Hoffman admitted to funding Carroll’s lawsuit, a federal judge agreed to seal materials containing details about the financial arrangement. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan agreed with a request from Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, to keep the related documents under seal. This decision includes future filings and hearings about the issue.

Roberta Kaplan argued that the public interest for access to this information was minimal, given that the previous on-the-record filings already provided the public with adequate access to the litigation’s otherwise irrelevant and tangential topic. The attorney further noted that some files could be protected by attorney-client privilege. She maintained that jurors have no business knowing who is funding the lawsuit and that the financial backing has no direct bearing on the case’s ultimate merits.

 

Reid Hoffman is a well-known donor to Democratic campaigns and political action committees in Silicon Valley, contributing millions of dollars to left-wing groups. In 2018, he was forced to apologize for financially supporting a group that falsely attempted to portray the Russian government as backing Alabama Republican Roy Moore in a 2017 special Senate election.

Trump’s trial is set to begin jury selection on Tuesday, and Roberta Kaplan warned that revealing details about the financial backing might compromise her client. She contended that inadmissible evidence at trial should not be unnecessarily entered into the public record, as it could generate public confusion and create unfair prejudice against her client.

However, Alina Habba, an attorney representing Trump in the lawsuit, informed Business Insider that she opposes the judge’s decision to seal the documents. It is unclear why Judge Kaplan would keep the materials hidden from the public, considering Hoffman’s role as a financial backer is already public knowledge.

Earlier this month, Habba asked the judge to delay the trial and reopen the discovery process based on the revelation that a nonprofit funded by Hoffman – the American Future Republic – had provided financial support to Roberta Kaplan’s law firm. Habba argued that this information was particularly relevant considering the political overtones of the case and Trump’s potential 2024 presidential campaign.

In a separate court filing, Roberta Kaplan explained that her firm was paid on a contingency basis for the lawsuit, and funds from Hoffman’s nonprofit were used solely to cover specific costs and fees related to the firm’s work on Carroll’s behalf. She added that Carroll never personally communicated with the nonprofit or its financial backers.

Kaplan tried to distance the funding source from the core of the dispute, stating that the resources acquired by Carroll’s counsel have nothing to do with the events at Bergdorf Goodman or whether Trump lied about Carroll since June 2019. She appeared to acknowledge that her firm either solicited or accepted unknown sums of money from Hoffman, the Democratic megadonor.

 

Despite her attempts to delay the trial, the judge permitted Trump’s lawyers to question Carroll about her knowledge of the funding. The judge ruled that jurors could find this information relevant when evaluating her credibility. The deadline for additional discovery passed earlier this week.

As the trial approaches, it remains unclear whether Trump will attend. The judge has not compelled him to do so, and his attorneys have not confirmed whether or not their client will be present.

This complex legal battle raises questions about the influence of financial backers on lawsuits, and the implications such revelations could have on the trial. In an era where transparency is valued, the court’s decision to seal evidence about financial support only adds to the intrigue surrounding this high-profile case.

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