Donald Trump has attacked his accuser, writer E. Jean Carroll, on social media after the former president testified in court during the sexual assault defamation civil trial.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump once again denied that he abused or even knows the former Elle columnist. He also described the ongoing civil proceedings as a disgrace to the country.
"I don't even know who this woman is. I have no idea who she is, where she came from. This is another scam, it's a political witch hunt, and somehow we're going to have to fight this stuff," Trump said in a video message posted on Truth Social. "We cannot let our country go into this abyss, this is disgraceful."
Trump took to the witness stand in his defense on Thursday as part of Carroll's lawsuit saying the former president defamed her character in 2019 while denying that he sexually assaulted her at a Bergdorf Goodman store in New York in the 1990s. This lawsuit is different from a sexual battery and defamation suit which Carroll has already won against Trump, where a jury in May 2023 ruled Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll at the department store and then defaming her character while denying the incident occurred. The former president was ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in damages.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, the judge who has presided over both the current and previous civil trial between Carroll and Trump, previously told the former president's lawyers they could not try and argue to the jury that the 2024 GOP frontrunner did not abuse the writer during the current proceedings.
As a result, Trump was limited in what he could say when he took to the stand on Thursday, and only answered a handful of questions. But, outside the court, the former president has frequently targeted Carroll on social media, sometimes posting about her dozens of times a day ahead of proceedings.
In the video posted on Truth Social, Trump also made reference to how his lawyers had tried to introduce evidence allegedly linking Carroll's legal bills to George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist who is often the target of Republican attacks and conspiracy theories over donations to Democratic and liberal causes. Kaplan rejected the request during Thursday's proceedings.
"You have a woman that's financed and lied about it, she totally lied about it, by Democrat operatives like just about the biggest one there is. And she said that wasn't true. They found that she lied about it," Trump added. "And the judge wasn't even I guess letting it be put in as evidence. The whole thing is a scam, and it's a shame and it's a disgrace to our country."
Court documents have shown that Carroll's case against Trump has been funded by LinkedIn founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman, who had partnered with Soros to set up an organization battling disinformation. There is, however, no evidence to suggest that Soros has been involved in Carroll's case.
Carroll's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.
During his testimony, Trump was asked by his lawyer Alina Habba if he stood by the comments he made during his 2022 deposition, where he denied the assault took place, to which Trump replied "100 percent."
Habba directly asked if he denied the allegation from Carroll. Trump said he did and considered the claim a "false accusation" before he was cut off by the judge.
Habba then asked if he ever instructed anyone to "hurt Ms Carroll in your statements?" while denying the sexual assault claims. Trump replied: "No, I just wanted to defend myself, my family and, frankly, the presidency."
During cross examination from Carroll's lawyers, Trump said that he did not attend the previous civil trial in 2023 involving himself and Carroll, as he was under no obligation to do so.
Kaplan ruled in September that Trump had defamed Carroll while denying that he sexually assaulted her, including suggesting she made up the attack to sell copies of her book. The current proceedings in New York are so the jury can determine how much Trump will have to pay Carroll in damages.
Carroll is seeking at least $10 million from the former president.
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Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
