Former President Donald Trump on Thursday officially signaled plans to appeal the $5 million jury verdict this week that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
In a filing in Manhattan federal court, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said they were appealing the dollar amount and “all adverse orders, rulings, decrees, decisions, opinions, memoranda, conclusions or findings” from U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil trial.
The court filing comes a day after Trump ripped Kaplan on social media, labeling the “Clinton appointed Judge” a “terrible person” and “completely biased.”
“The whole Rigged Hoax is yet another TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE, a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt of all time!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.
The verdict reached on Tuesday was officially entered on to the court docket Thursday.
Tacopina said in a statement to NBC News on Thursday that the appeals court had overturned Kaplan once before in the litigation, and “we are confident it will be twice after this appeal is heard.”
An attorney for Carroll, 79, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carroll’slawsuit over battery and defamation alleged that Trump, 76, raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s, and then defamed her in a statement when he called her allegation a “complete con job.”
The jury did not find Trump liable for rape, but found him liable for sexual abuse — an element of her battery claim — and defamation.
The verdict hasn’t stopped Trump from insulting the former Elle magazine advice columnist. In a CNN town hall Wednesday night he referred to her as a “whack job” with a “made up story.”
Trump waived his right to testify in the trial, which began in late April. He said his lawyer recommended he not take the witness stand because “it’s a fake story and you don’t want to give it credibility.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
