Former US president Donald Trump is set to attend a court hearing in New York City this week, where his legal team will argue against a $5 million jury verdict holding him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll and defaming her. The hearing is scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. in a Manhattan federal appeals court located in Lower Manhattan, according to sources familiar with the matter.
In May 2023, Trump was found liable of sexually assaulting Ms. Carroll in a fitting room at Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996 and later defaming her on Truth Social, calling her lawsuit “a hoax.” His lawyers argue that he could not receive a fair trial in New York and claim that the judge presiding over the case made several “flawed and prejudicial” rulings. These included allowing the testimonies of two other women who accused Trump of sexual assault and permitting the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape to be played for jurors.
During the trial, jurors heard from Ms. Carroll about the alleged attack, as well as testimony from Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, both of whom claimed they were groped or kissed by Trump in separate incidents. The jury also listened to a recording of Trump admitting he could grab women “by the p—y” because he is a star.
Trump’s legal team argues that the verdict was improper and politically motivated, based on false claims from Ms. Carroll. In an appellate brief filed in November, they stated: “The improper verdict in this case is a gross miscarriage of justice, backed by political operatives long opposed to President Trump and his politics, based on false and unsupported claims by [Carroll.
Despite claiming he didn’t know Ms. Carroll and that the incident never occurred, Trump was hit with an $83 million verdict in a separate case for defaming her and damaging her journalistic reputation when she went public with her claims in June 2019. He is currently appealing this second verdict as well, but oral arguments have not yet been scheduled.
Trump’s legal troubles do not stop there; he was convicted in May of falsifying documents to cover up making a series of “hush money” payments before the 2016 election and is set to be sentenced on September 18th at the Manhattan Supreme Court. He also faces two other criminal cases pending in Georgia state court and DC federal court for allegedly interfering with the 2020 election.
In Florida, a federal judge recently dismissed a case against Trump accusing him of hoarding confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago home and then lying about it; however, the feds are currently appealing that ruling. Furthermore, Trump is liable for $455 million in damages after being found guilty of fraudulent business practices.
The former president has consistently maintained that all of his legal woes are part of a Democratic effort led by his former opponent President Biden to prevent him from winning the 2024 election. A spokesperson for Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, declined to comment on the matter.
