Former President Donald Trump issued an angry post minutes after a New York jury found he committed sexual abuse and defamed E. Jean Carroll – claiming he had ‘no idea’ who the woman who brought on his rape trial is.
Trump once again termed the entire matter a ‘hoax,’ after a jury of six men and three women found he committed sexual abuse, battery, and also defamed Carroll.
The jury found Trump should pay her $5 million.
‘I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS,’ Trump wrote in all caps on his Truth Social web site. ‘THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!’
‘I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS,’ former President Donald Trump wrote after the verdict
His blast came about 30 minutes after the jury failed to find that he raped Carroll, but found he was liable for sexual abuse, battery, and defamation.
Carroll told the jury Trump attacked her inside a Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1995 or 1996, in a version of events the jury at least partly believed even as Trump was quoted as calling it a hoax.
Trump’s statement that he didn’t know the identity of Carroll came after he failed to properly identify her in a photo in what may have been a key moment of the trial.
During his videotaped deposition, Carroll lawyer Roberta Kramer had Trump look at a black and white image to identify the group, which included himself.
When asked to identify a woman in the photo, Trump responded: ‘That’s Marla, that’s my wife.’
It was only with the help of his lawyer, Alina Habba, that Trump figured out it is in fact Carroll.
‘I don’t even know who the woman. Let’s see, I don’t know who – it’s Marla,’ said Trump.
Looks familiar: Trump said he had ‘no idea’ who accuser E. Jean Carroll was, on a day a jury found him liable for sexual abuse, battery and defamation, and said he should pay her $5 million
During one awkward moment of his videotaped deposition, Trump failed to identify Carroll in an image, then confused her with his former wife Marla Maples. (Former wife Ivana Trump is pictured at the right)
‘I hear we’re doing very well in New York,’ former President Donald Trump said when asked last week why he was visiting Ireland rather than attending his trial in New York. He later said he was cutting short his trip to ‘confront’ Carroll, but failed to take the stand in his own defense
Trump posted about the case about 30 minutes after jurors reached a verdict the found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and determined he should pay Carroll $5 million
That prompted Roberta Kaplan to interject: ‘You’re saying Marla’s in this photo?
‘That’s Marla, yeah. That’s, that’s my wife.’
Trump has said previously he didn’t know who Carroll is, and might have been of the mind that it spoke to his belief she was bringing false charges against him.
But the exchange undermined the certainty of Trump’s memory relating to the era – while also undercutting his claim that his accuser wasn’t ‘my type.’
Kaplan later told him: ‘I take it the three women you’ve married are all your type?’
‘Yeah,’ Trump responded.
Trump’s furious post came several hours after another angry missive that came even before the jury reached its verdict.
‘Waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me,’ Trump said.
‘In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of Rape, & is working with the press. I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!’
Trump’s statement about not being allowed to speak or defend himself wasn’t accurate. The judge hearing the case, Lewis A. Kaplan, gave the defense the opportunity to put Trump on the stand.
After Trump told reporters in Ireland he was cutting short his trip to come home and ‘confront’ Carroll, the judge gave his legal team additional time to bring witnesses in the event Trump wanted to take the stand.
In the end, his lawyers allowed the jury to get its chief impressions of Trump through his videotaped deposition, where he had tense confrontations with Carroll’s lawyer, and the infamous ‘Access Hollywood’ tape.
Lawyer Jonathan Turley, who appeared as a Republican witness during Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial, told Fox News Trump’s failure to appear – and Carroll’s lawyer’s ability to draw a negative inference from it in civil court – as a potentially critical moment in the trial.
