Trump transition blasts Carroll decision
President-elect Trump’s transition team on Monday blasted the federal appeals court panel’s decision upholding the jury verdict finding Trump liable for sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll and ordering him to pay $5 million.
Steven Cheung a Trump spokesperson set to become his White House communications director, said in a statement that Trump will continue to appeal the verdict.
“The American People have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed,” Cheung said in a statement.
“We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again,” he added.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit concluded Monday that Trump did not sufficiently show any claimed errors that affected his rights or warranted a new trial.
“On review for abuse of discretion, we conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” the panel wrote in its unsigned opinion.
The New York jury found Trump liable last year for sexually abusing Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and defaming her by denying her story when she came forward during Trump’s first presidency.
Trump demanded he be given a new trial over allegations that the jury heard improper testimony and Trump was wrongly precluded from asking Carroll certain questions during cross-examination.
The panel rejected all those arguments, determining that testimony from two other women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct and the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump is heard bragging about sexually grabbing women without their permission was rightfully admitted as evidence.
“Both E. Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today’s decision. We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties’ arguments,” Robbie Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, said in a statement.
Updated at 2:18 p.m.