Donald Trump press conference: Former president in New York court to appeal E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse verdict

NEW YORK — As Donald Trump sat in court, a federal appeals court in New York expressed skepticism Friday about the former president’s willingness to file a new civil trial in the 2023 defamation and assault case filed by author E. Jean Carroll, telling the defense that it would be “very difficult” to overturn the jury’s verdict.

Trump, sitting alone in court, said nothing during the brief hearing but greeted cartoonist Jane Rosenberg warmly as he entered the room. He did not appear to make eye contact with Carroll, who was sitting a few feet away.

Last May, a jury ruled that Trump should pay $5 million for defaming and sexually assaulting Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, a decision that his lawyer said should not stand.

Judge Danny Chin interrupted Sauer, saying, “It’s very difficult to overturn a jury verdict based on evidence-based decisions … so why should we order a new trial here?”

Sauer reiterated his claim that there was an “error in the admission” of the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump is heard bragging about assaulting women, as well as the testimony of two women who claimed Trump assaulted them decades ago, which he denies.

One of those women, Jessica Leeds, had testified that Trump grabbed her breasts and put his hand up her skirt as they sat next to each other in first class on a flight to New York in the 1970s. Sauer argued Friday that it was “patently wrong” to allow the jury to hear the testimony because what Trump was accused of was not explicitly considered a crime at the time.

Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, suggested that some of Sauer’s arguments overcomplicated the issues before the appeals panel, framing a dispute over the relevance of sexual assault case law as “too many lawyers trying to screw in a light bulb.” She argued that the testimony demonstrated Trump’s alleged propensity to assault women.

“He used to be having a nice chat with a woman and then out of nowhere he would jump up, for lack of a better term,” Kaplan said, prompting Trump, sitting at the defense table, to shake his head “no.”

At one point during the argument, Judge Chin chastised Sauer, who was in the process of finishing his presentation at breakneck speed, telling the lawyer: “You’re talking so fast. Why don’t you slow down a little bit?”

“It’s a big deal and I’m passionate about it,” Sauer said.

After the hearing, Trump ignored a question from ABC News asking whether he was satisfied with his lawyer’s argument.

The former president’s appearance before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was voluntary, not mandatory.

The commission did not immediately issue a decision. Judge Myron Perez said the case would be taken under advisement.

Carroll, who filed the lawsuit in November 2022, alleged that Trump defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations a “hoax and a lie” and saying, “That woman is not my type!” when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.

The former Elle magazine columnist added a battery charge under a New York state law that allows adult victims of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he assaulted Carroll or defamed her.

“I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the verdict last May. “THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”

Trump also appealed the outcome of a separate case brought by Carroll related to the same allegations, in which a jury awarded him $83 million in damages.