Trump is interesting the decision within the E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse case

E. Jean Carroll, former advice columnist for Elle magazine, watches as Joe Tacopina, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, during a civil trial in which Carroll accuses Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s , closing arguments defamation, in New York, May 8, 2023.

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will appeal this week the federal civil jury’s verdict that holds the former president responsible for the sexual abuse and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll.

Trump’s attorneys also said in that filing that they will be asking the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to vacate the order requiring him to pay Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages in this case.

Also on Thursday, Carroll’s attorney told The New York Times that the author was considering filing a new defamation lawsuit against Trump after she made her allegation at a CNN town hall the night before that he was in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman Department raped by him The store in the 1990s was “fake”.

“We’re going to have to weigh the various pros and cons and will probably come to a decision within the next day or so,” Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan told The Times.

If Carroll, 79, does file a new lawsuit, it would be her third lawsuit against Trump for defamation.

CNBC Policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

The second lawsuit was settled Tuesday when a jury in the US District Court in Manhattan, after deliberating for less than three hours, found that he had sexually abused and also defamed her last fall.

The first lawsuit alleging Trump defamed her as president after she went public with her rape allegation in 2019 has been effectively shelved pending legal battles over whether he can be held liable for statements that made the he made during his tenure in the White House.

Trump’s appeal was filed Thursday, less than an hour after the jury’s final verdict was entered on the Manhattan court’s file.

The jury failed to conclude Tuesday that there was overwhelming evidence that Trump raped Carroll. But finding that he likely sexually abused her was enough to uphold her civil claim for physical harm.

Trump is the lead candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

During Wednesday night’s CNN-hosted New Hampshire Town Hall, Trump poked fun at Carroll, eliciting laughter and cheers from the audience. Trump called Carroll a “complete moron” during the town hall meeting and again claimed her account of events was “fake.”

“She wasn’t raped, okay?” Trump said. “And I didn’t do anything else, okay, because I don’t know who the hell she is.”