Donald Trump says judge and jury in E. Jean Carroll case ‘should be ashamed’, having been found liable for sexual assault

Donald Trump has targeted the jury that ruled he’d sexually assaulted a female writer in a wild rant posted late at night.

Donald Trump speaking in a video posted on social media. Picture: Truth Social

Donald Trump has lashed out furiously against the jury that ruled he sexually assaulted writer E. Jean Carroll, describing its verdict as a “travesty of justice”.

On Tuesday afternoon, US time, a jury in New York found Mr Trump liable for sexually abusing Ms Carroll in a department store in the 1990s, and for subsequently defaming her when he dismissed her allegation as a “hoax” and “lie”. It found him not liable for rape.

The verdict in the civil trial is the first time Mr Trump has been found legally responsible for a sexual assault. He has been ordered to pay Ms Carroll $US5 million ($7.4 million).

He intends to appeal the decision.

“Today, the world finally knows the truth,” Ms Carroll said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”

Donald Trump, pictured on May 1. He did not attend the trial in New York. Picture: Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images

A smiling E. Jean Carroll leaves the courthouse after the verdict. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images via AFP

Mr Trump vented his displeasure at the result in a series of late-night posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, which he published at about 1.30am, local time.

“The partisan judge and jury on the just concluded witch hunt trial should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for allowing such a travesty of justice to take place,” he said, before launching into some personal attacks on Ms Carroll.

“It’s not possible to believe that this woman, who I don’t know and have never met before (except on a crowded celebrity photo line), could be credible or convincing to a judge and jury,” said Mr Trump.

“This Clinton-appointed judge, Lewis Kaplan, hated President Donald J. Trump more than is humanly possible. He is a terrible person, completely biased, and should have recused himself when asked to do so. He quickly refused!

“This case should never have been allowed to be tried in this completely partisan venue, perhaps the worst for me in the nation! The whole rigged hoax is yet another travesty of justice, a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt of all time!!!”

Donald Trump labelled the trial a “witch hunt”. Picture: Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP

Judge Kaplan, 78, was appointed to the federal court in 1994 by one of Mr Trump’s predecessors as president, Democrat Bill Clinton.

During the Carroll trial, he repeatedly ruled against Mr Trump’s legal team, which first tried to delay proceedings, arguing a “deluge of prejudicial media coverage” made it impossible for the former president to receive a fair trial.

Judge Kaplan said much of the coverage in question had been “invited or provoked by Mr Trump's own actions”.

“It does not sit well for Mr Trump to promote pre-trial publicity and then to claim that coverage, that he promoted, was prejudicial to him,” he said.

Mr Trump’s team subsequently moved for a mistrial to be declared, accusing the judge of bias. Judge Kaplan denied that request.

He also warned Mr Trump against speaking about the trial on multiple occasions, rebuking him for launching public attacks against Ms Carroll and the court.

Other women’s allegations resurface

Mr Trump’s late-night rant came a few hours after one of his lawyers, Alina Habba, became visibly exasperated during an interview on CNN.

Host Dana Bash wanted to know whether Mr Trump’s team was concerned about other allegations of sexual misconduct against him, most of which became public knowledge during the 2016 election campaign.

Dana Bash and Alina Habba. Picture: CNN

“There are 15 women altogether who have alleged that Trump sexually harassed or assaulted them. Are you concerned-” said Ms Bash.

“We’re talking about 2016?” Ms Habba interjected.

“Right. Are you concerned? Are you concerned that the case that we saw today, that it is maybe just the beginning, that other criminal action could be in the future?” Bash persisted (as previously noted, the Carroll trial was civil, not criminal).

“No. I think you’re concerned that he is going to win, which is why you’re bringing up 2016 things, because you have nothing to bring up. That’s what I think. You’re concerned, and you should be concerned. He’s leading in the polls,” said Ms Habba.

An ABC/Washington Post poll published this week showed Mr Trump beating President Joe Biden by 6 per cent, with 18 per cent of respondents undecided. The popular vote in the 2020 election was 51 per cent to 47 per cent, in Mr Biden’s favour.

“I’m a journalist,” Ms Bash responded.

“I am not concerned about anything. I’m asking you, as one of his attorneys, about things that are out there.”

“These 15 women, are we talking about 2016 when he was running and (won)?” Ms Habba shot back.

“I don’t have 15 women that have come forth with a claim. Okay. Where are they? I don’t have them.”

‘Not about the money’

Ms Carroll, for her part, reacted further to the verdict during a TV appearance on Wednesday morning, stressing that the case “about the money”.

“I didn’t even hear the money. This is not about the money. This is about getting my name back, and that’s what we accomplished,” she told The Today Show on NBC.