Trump in court as lawyers fight to overturn verdict in E. Jean Carroll sex abuse trial – Daily News

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and MICHELLE L. PRICE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump moved from the campaign trail to the courtroom, quietly watching Friday as one of his lawyers fought to overturn a verdict that found the former president guilty of sexual abuse and defamation.

The Republican nominee and his accuser, writer E. Jean Carroll, sat at tables about 15 feet apart in a federal appeals court. Trump neither acknowledged nor looked at Carroll as he walked right past her on the way in and out, but he shook his head at points, such as when Carroll's lawyer said he sexually assaulted her.

Trump's lawyer, D. John Sauer, told the judges of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the civil case in Carroll's lawsuit was marred by insufficient evidence.

“This case is a prime example of how implausible allegations are supported by highly inflammatory and inadmissible evidence,” Sauer said, noting that the jury was also allowed to consider such items as the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump boasted years ago about grabbing women's genitals.

Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, told the judges that the evidence in question was proper and that there was sufficient evidence in the nearly two-week trial to support Carroll's claim that Trump attacked her in the dressing room of a luxury department store decades ago.

“E. Jean Carroll brought this case because Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in 1996 and then defamed her in 2022 by claiming she was crazy and made the whole thing up,” Kaplan said.

Carroll, who later stood with Kaplan outside the courthouse, declined to comment.

Trump left the courtroom in a motorcade and then gave a long diatribe against the case at Trump Tower, reiterating that Carroll – and other women who had accused him of sexual assault – had made it all up.

“This is so wrong. It's a made-up, fabricated story by someone who, I think, initially just wanted to promote a book,” Trump said.

In his remarks to reporters on Friday, Trump repeated many of the same claims about Carroll that a jury had already found defamatory and added some new ones, such as claiming that a photo of him and Carroll together in 1987 was actually created by artificial intelligence. It was unclear whether his remarks could open the door to a new defamation lawsuit from Carroll.

“I've said it before and I'll say it again: All options are on the table,” Kaplan said in a statement after Trump's press conference.

If the three-judge panel follows the pattern of other appeals processes, it should not take weeks or even months to make a decision.

A jury found in May 2023 that Trump sexually abused Carroll. He denies this. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million.

Former President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at New York federal court in New York, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

People protest against former President Donald Trump before his arrival at the New York federal courthouse, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

People protest against former President Donald Trump before his arrival at the New York federal courthouse, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

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Former President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at New York federal court in New York, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

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