Former President Trump in Manchester, New Hampshire, in April 2023. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Former President Trump on Thursday appealed a New York jury's decision this week to hold him liable for sexual abuse and defamation in writer E. Jean Carroll's civil suit against him.
Why it matters: Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, had been expected to appeal after the jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages, and he has publicly mocked her since the lawsuit loss.
- The case will now move to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit after the appeal.
- At least 26 women, including Carroll, have made public allegations of sexual misconduct or assault against Trump over the years, but only a few resulted in litigation and only Carroll's has gone to trial.
- Trump has denied the allegations against him.
Driving the news: On Tuesday, the jury did not determine that Trump raped Carroll, as she alleged, but it did find that he sexually assaulted Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in 1996. It also found he defamed her when he called her allegations "a complete con job" and "a Hoax and a lie" in 2022.
- Trump publicly ridiculed the trial, which started April 25, and Carroll, during a CNN town hall event on Wednesday.
- During the televised event, Trump called Carroll a "whack job" and called her allegations "fake" and "made up."
Carroll's counsel, Roberta Kaplan, did not respond to Axios' request for comment on the appeal.
The big picture: Carroll and Kaplan have said they are considering a new defamation lawsuit against Trump over the claims at the townhall event, according to the New York Times.
- It would be Carroll's third defamation lawsuit against Trump.
- In the other pending suit, Trump has argued he can't be sued because he made the statements at issue while he was president.
Go deeper: #MeToo's legacy lives on in the E. Jean Carroll verdict
Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details throughout.