Donald Trump on Friday evening declared there was ‘no longer Justice in America’ after a jury in New York City ordered him to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages for defamation.
The former president, 77, vowed to appeal appeal and called the case from his rape accuser a ‘Biden Directed Witch Hunt’.
He wrote on Truth Social: ‘Our Judicial System is Broken and Unfair!’
As the verdict was read out, he derided it was ‘absolutely ridiculous’.
He is now en route to Nevada, where he will on Saturday hold a campaign rally.
‘Absolutely ridiculous!’ he wrote
‘I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party.’
Donald Trump has torn into the ‘absolutely ridiculous’ verdict from the New York jury awarding E. Jean Carroll $83.3million in damages for defamation
Trump used the stunning decision to denounce the U.S. legal system – which has him facing four criminal indictments that prosecutors brought to grand juries.
‘Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!’ He did not provide evidence that President Biden directed Carroll’s decision to seek monetary damages after Trump called her a liar and a ‘whack job.’
He followed up with another furious post later Friday evening. ‘There is no longer Justice in America. Our Judicial System is Broken and Unfair!’ he posted.
Trump is already appealing a prior $5 million verdict in a separate defamation case, which was the first one Carroll brought against him.
A second appeal would provide him the opportunity to knock down the $65 million punitive damage award decided by the jury, which was in addition to $18.3 million in compensatory damages.
Trump lawyer Alina fumed about the verdict outside the courthouse, on a day when the Judge Lewis Kaplan threatened threatened to jail her over court interruptions.
‘You are not allowed to be stripped of every defense that you have,’ she fumed.
‘There was no DNA. There was no expert. My experts were denied – two of them. Two of them were denied to come in,’ said the Bedminster, New Jersey-based attorney.
Trump blasted the verdict minutes after the jury hit him with an $83.3 million damage award
Trump lawyer Alina Habba blasted the verdict in comments outside the courtroom
E. Jean Carroll smiled outside the courthouse but didn’t otherwise speak
The fury came after a trial where Trump testified for just under four minutes, after the judge limited what he was able to say and Habba tried to get comments from Trump rebutting Carroll into the record.
The phase of the trial dealt with Trump’s statements as president, not the finding a separate jury already reached finding him liable for sexual abuse. That is something Judge Kamplan referenced inside the courtroom, saying Trump ‘in fact sexually abused’ Carroll.
Carroll’s team blasted Trump’s appearance inside the courtroom, saying Trump said under his breath in court that ‘I don’t know who the woman is. I never met this woman.’
It came after a dramatic day in court where Trump walked out of court after Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan urged jurors to punish him.
It was a gesture that the judge made sure to enter into the record.
The case centered on comments Trump made about Carroll after she accused him of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman’s dressing room in the 1990s.
Trump, 77, insists he has never met Carroll, has consistently said she wasn’t his type and has described the court case as a ‘witch hunt’ and ‘election interference’.
He has been ordered to hand over $7.3 million for ’emotional harm’ and another $11 million for ‘reputational damages.’ Another $65 million for ‘punitive damages’ also must be provided.
Carroll and her attorneys wiped away tears of joy and hugged each other as they departed the courtroom arm-in-arm with big smiles on their faces.
Trump reacted on Truth Social slamming the verdict as ‘Absolutely ridiculous!’ and vowing to appeal the decision.
He went on to slam the ‘Biden Directed Witch Hunt’ and called the U.S. legal system ‘out of control’ and being used as a ‘political weapon’ to target him.
‘They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!’
Trump’s total liquid assets were estimated to be at $93 million total in 2020, according to documents obtained by New York Attorney General Letitia James who is separately investigating the Trump Organizations finances – and he could be on the hook for millions more.
Trump’s attorneys were slumped over in discussion as the verdict was read.
Judge Kaplan advised jurors to remain anonymous before dismissing them, saying ‘my advice to you is that you never disclose you were on this jury.’
Earlier Friday, the Manhattan courtroom erupted in chaos earlier when Trump walked out after Carroll’s lawyer said the jury should punish him.