Trump files notice to appeal of E. Jean Carroll verdict
Attorneys for former President Donald Trump on Thursday filed a notice to appeal the verdict of a federal civil trial that found him liable for sexual battery and defamation against writer E. Jean Carroll.
Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages by the jury on Tuesday.
The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape, and also found that he defamed Carroll in a case stemming from an incident in the mid-1990s.
Trump said Wednesday night in videos posted on his Truth Social platform that he would be appealing the decision and called the verdict a "disgrace" and a "sham." He continued to disparage Carroll during a CNN town hall on Wednesday night, calling her a "whack job," using language similar to that which led to his defamation verdict in the first place. Trump called Carroll's story "fake" and "made up," even though a jury unanimously and swiftly agreed on the verdict.
Carroll accused Trump of assaulting and raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in New York City in the mid-1990s, and then defaming her after she published her account in 2019. Trump, who has claimed he never met Carroll and "she's not my type," forcefully denied her accusations.
"Donald Trump did it," Carroll said In an interview on "CBS Mornings" Wednesday, following the verdict. "Donald Trump did it. And all his saying, 'no, no, no,' is not true."
Kathryn Watson, Jacob Rosen, Olivia Rinaldi, Clare Hynes, Graham Kates and Nia Stevens contributed to this report.