Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
Tuesday, a federal New York jury awarded advice columnist E. Jean Carroll $5 million after finding former President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
The jury rejected Carroll’s claim that she had been raped by Trump but agreed that the former president had defamed her in numerous public statements about her allegations, including calling Carroll a “nut job” and liar.
“Today, the world finally knows the truth,” Carroll said in a statement. “This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”
Carroll had accused Trump of raping her in 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store near Trump Tower in Manhattan, an allegation Trump continues to deny.
“I have absolutely no idea who this woman is,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This verdict is a disgrace — a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time!”
In a follow-up post, he wrote, “Very unfair trial!”
Tuesday evening, Trump posted a scathing indictment of the judge and jury who had heard the case
“What else can you expect from a Trump hating, Clinton appointed judge, who went out of his way to make sure that the result was as negative as it could possibly be, speaking to, and in control of, a jury from an anti-trump area which is probably the worst place in the u.s. for me to get a fair ‘trial,’” Trump wrote.
Fox News reports that Trump has already promised to appeal the decision.
ELECTION EFFECT
It remains to be seen if Tuesday’s ruling factors into Trump’s 2024 election bid. He is certainly banking on the numerous court cases in which he is embroiled being a net positive in his quest for the Republican nomination, but opinions on the right are split.
Former Arkansas governor and current presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson appears to have sensed a vulnerability for Trump and issued a statement of condemnation.
“Over the course of my over 25 years of experience in the courtroom, I have seen first hand how a cavalier and arrogant contempt for the rule of law can backfire,” Hutchinson said. “The jury verdict should be treated with seriousness and is another example of the indefensible behavior of Donald Trump.”
However, former Vice President Mike Pence said he doubted conservative voters would be swayed.
“It’s just one more instance where — at a time when American families are struggling, when our economy is hurting, when the world seems to become a more dangerous place almost every day — [there’s] just one more story focusing on my former running mate that I know is a great fascination to members of the national media but I just don’t think is where the American people are focused,” NBC News quoted Pence as saying.