Trump calls E. Jean Carroll verdict ‘a disgrace’

Shortly after being found liable for sexual battery and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll civil trial Tuesday, former President Trump called the verdict a “disgrace.”

“I have absolutely no idea who this woman is,” Trump wrote in all capital letters on Truth Social shortly after the verdict was announced. “This verdict is a disgrace – A continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time!”

In a subsequent interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said he planned to appeal the verdict while bashing the judge in the case as a Clinton administration appointee.

“We’ll appeal. We got treated very badly by the Clinton-appointed judge,” Trump said.

The nine-member jury found that Trump did not commit rape of Carroll in the mid-1990s but did find him liable for sexual abuse. He was also ordered to pay Carroll a total of $5 million in damages.

As a civil case, Carroll had to prove her claims of sexual battery and defamation by a preponderance of evidence. Trump faces no related criminal charges, which would have required a higher burden of proof.

During the nearly two-week trial in federal court, Carroll told jurors that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in New York City during the spring of 1996. 

Since Carroll first went public with the accusation in 2019, Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations and maintained he does not know her. In a 2019 interview with The Hill, Trump claimed Carroll was not his “type.”

Carroll is one of several women who have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior by Trump since he launched his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied all of the claims.

The former president is now running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 and leads his potential challengers in nearly every national poll.

He faces additional investigations for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and for his handling of classified materials upon leaving the White House.

Trump last month was charged with 34 felony counts in connection to a hush money scheme to keep an alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels quiet during the 2016 campaign.

Updated at 4:28 p.m.