Trump attacks women who have accused him of misconduct for days…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shortly after appearing in court to appeal a verdict in which he was found guilty of sexual assault, Donald Trump went before television cameras Friday and brought up a series of past allegations of other sexual misconduct cases, potentially reminding voters of incidents that were little known or forgotten.

The former president has made lashing out at opponents and accusers a central part of his political identity, but his appearance at the eponymous Manhattan office tower was surprising even by Trump's own combative standards. At times he seemed to delight in using figurative language and characterizations of the case that could expose the former president to further legal challenges.

His comments came just four days before Trump's debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Early voting is about to begin in some parts of the country, and Election Day is just two months away.

Trump remains in the public eye while Harris prepares for the debate privately with advisers in Pittsburgh, a reflection of their different campaign styles: Trump frequently chats with reporters — though often in friendly settings — while Harris has given only one interview and no press conferences since taking President Joe Biden's place at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Trump repeatedly addressed Harris's lack of press conferences on Friday. But his own comments – in which he spent more than half an hour talking about the charges against him without mentioning any campaign issues – threatened to get him into even more legal trouble. And after summoning reporters for what his campaign described as a press conference, Trump left the event without taking questions.

A jury fined Trump $5 million and found him guilty of sexually assaulting advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996. His legal team presented its appeal arguments Friday morning.

Carroll has now been given a large fine by juries twice because Trump accused her of fabricating a story about his 1996 assault on her in a department store dressing room to help her sell her autobiographies.

That hasn't stopped Trump from continuing to make nearly identical statements to reporters, however. At his press conference on Friday, he again said Carroll was telling a “fabricated, constructed story.”

Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, warned in March after a jury awarded Carroll an additional $83 million that she would continue to monitor Trump's comments and consider filing another lawsuit if he continued.

Earlier in the day, he had entered court quietly and walked past Carroll without acknowledging or looking at her.

The former president was reactive at times during the proceedings, such as shaking his head when Roberta Kaplan, Carroll's lawyer, said Trump had sexually harassed her client. He occasionally tilted his head from side to side but otherwise sat quietly and mostly alone.

A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of sexual assault in May. Carroll says Trump attacked her in a department store dressing room, but the former president's legal team says the verdict should be overturned because some evidence that was admitted during the trial should have been excluded while other evidence that should have been excluded was allowed. Carroll denies any guilt.

Although Trump is in the midst of his presidential campaign and faces a number of other lawsuits against him, he did not attend Carroll's trial or attend the reading of the charges – although he called the verdict “a disgrace” on his social media page.

Later Friday, he will travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to speak before the Fraternal Order of Police.

Carroll was one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. She went public in her memoir in 2019. Trump denied this, saying he never met Carroll in the store and did not know her. He called her a “madwoman” who made up her story to sell her memoir.

Trump faces unprecedented criminal and civil consequences for a major party candidate.

He was found guilty on 34 counts in a New York state case involving alleged hush money payments to a porn star. The judge in that case is expected to decide Friday whether to delay Trump's sentencing.

Trump was also sentenced to pay large fines for lying about his wealth for years.

And he still faces cases accusing him of misusing classified documents, his actions after the 2020 election and his activities during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 – although none of those cases are likely to go to trial before Election Day.