EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump told Fox News Digital that he will appeal the ruling in the E. Jean Carroll civil case, saying he has “absolutely no idea” who she is while blasting the verdict as a “disgrace” and “a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in history.”
A federal jury in New York City decided Tuesday that Trump was not liable for rape but was liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The former president has been ordered to pay $5 million.
In an exclusive interview just after the jury delivered the verdict, Trump told Fox News Digital that he has “absolutely no idea who this woman is.”
“This verdict is a disgrace,” he told Fox News Digital. “It is a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in history.”
Trump told Fox News Digital that he “will appeal.”
“We’ll appeal. We got treated very badly by the Clinton-appointed judge,” Trump said. “And [Carroll] is a Clinton person, too.”
He added, “I have no idea who this woman is.”
Carroll, 79, alleged that Trump raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan sometime in 1996. According to Carroll, the two had a chance run-in at the store, where Trump was shopping for a gift for “a girl.” She said he asked for her advice, and the two shopped together before he pushed her into a dressing room and assaulted her. Trump and his legal team insist that Carroll’s allegations are fabricated, with the former president’s initial reaction including an accusation that Carroll was motivated by wanting to sell copies of her book.
That denial resulted in Carroll slapping Trump with a defamation claim, claiming that his response caused harm to her reputation.
“I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back,” Carroll said in a statement. “Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”
Carroll’s lawsuit requested compensatory and punitive damages as well as an order that Trump retract his statement.
Trump’s presidential campaign released a statement that said the Democrats’ “witch hunt” had reached a “new low,” calling it an “abuse of our great Constitution.”
“In jurisdictions wholly controlled by the Democratic Party our nation’s justice system is now compromised by extremist left-wing politics. We have allowed false and totally made-up claims from troubled individuals to interfere with our elections, doing great damage,” the statement said.
“Make no mistake, this entire bogus case is a political endeavor targeting President Trump because he is now an overwhelming front-runner to be once again elected President of the United States.”
Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, had told the jury in closing arguments Monday that Carroll’s story is too far-fetched to be believed. He echoed the claim that she made it up to fuel sales of her 2019 memoir, and he argued that she wanted to disparage Trump for political reasons.
“The facts in evidence made plain here that E. Jean Carroll’s story is not worthy of your belief, not even close,” Tacopina said. “Her story – and it’s just that, a story – is not true, she was not raped at Bergdorf Goodman’s. She was not defamed by being called out on making up that story.”
Trump did not testify during the trial, but he was deposed on camera in October.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace, Marta Dhanis, Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.