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Fox News
Fox News
9 May 2023


EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump told Fox News Digital that he will appeal the ruling the E. Jean Carroll case, saying he has "absolutely no idea" who she is, while blasting the verdict as a "disgrace" and "a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in history."

A federal jury in New York City decided on Tuesday that Trump was not guilty of rape, but was guilty of sexual abuse and defamation. The former president has been ordered to pay $2 million. 

Former President Donald Trump

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media during an election night event at Mar-a-Lago on November 08, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

In an exclusive interview, just after the jury delivered the verdict, Trump told Fox News Digital that he has "absolutely no idea who this woman is." 

"This verdict is a disgrace," he told Fox News Digital. "It is a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in history." 

Trump told Fox News Digital that he "will appeal." 

E. Jean Carroll arrives for her civil trial against former President Donald Trump

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 09: Magazine Columnist E. Jean Carroll arrives for her civil trial against former President Donald Trump at Manhattan Federal Court on May 09, 2023 in New York City. Carroll has testified that she was raped by former President Trump, giving details about the alleged attack in the mid-1990s. Trump has stated that the attack never happened and has denied meeting her. He has not taken the stand during the trial which will now go to the jury for deliberations. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

"We'll appeal. We got treated very badly by the Clinton-appointed judge," Trump said. "And [Carroll] is a Clinton person too." 

He added: "I have no idea who this woman is." 

Carroll, 79, alleged that Trump raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan some time in 1996. According to Carroll, the two had a chance run-in at the store, where Trump was shopping for a gift for "a girl." She said he asked for her advice, and the two shopped together before he pushed her into a dressing room and assaulted her. Trump and his legal team insist that Carroll's allegations are fabricated, with the former president's initial reaction including an accusation that Carroll was motivated by wanting to sell copies of her book.

Trump deposition

Former President Donald Trump is pictured in an October 2022 deposition in which he denied claims that he raped E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s. 

That denial resulted in Carroll slapping Trump with a defamation claim, claiming that his response caused harm to her reputation.

Carroll's lawsuit requested compensatory and punitive damages, as well as an order that Trump retract his statement.

Trump's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told the jury in closing arguments Monday that Carroll's story is too far-fetched to be believed. He echoed the claim that said she made it up to fuel sales of her 2019 memoir, and argued that she wanted to disparage Trump for political reasons.

"You know, facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts in evidence. The facts in evidence made plain here that E. Jean Carroll's story is not worthy of your belief, not even close," Tacopina said. "Her story – and it's just that, a story – is not true, she was not raped at Bergdorf Goodman's. She was not defamed by being called out on making up that story."

Trump did not testify during the trial, but he was deposed on camera in October. 

"She's accusing me of rape, a woman that I have no idea who she is. It came out of the blue. She's accusing me of rape -- of raping her, the worst thing you can do, the worst charge," Trump told Kaplan at his law office in October. "And you know it's not true too. You're a political operative also. You're a disgrace. But she's accusing me and so are you of rape, and it never took place. And I will tell you I made that statement, and I said, while it's politically incorrect, she's not my type. And that's 100 percent true. She's not my type."

Fox News' Danielle Wallace, Marta Dhanis, Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
 

Brooke Singman is a Fox News Digital politics reporter. You can reach her at Brooke.Singman@Fox.com or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.