- Former US president Donald Trump continues to deny knowing E. Jean Carroll.
- "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS," Trump posted online.
Former President Donald Trump continues to deny knowing longtime Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll — despite being found liable for sexually abusing her by a jury on Tuesday.
Shortly after the Manhattan jury's verdict was read, Trump posted an all-caps response: "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE — A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME."
Trump's team released a long statement in response to the verdict, also calling the verdict a "witch-hunt of President Trump."
The team also said Carroll's lawsuit "was orchestrated and funded by the biggest Trump-hating Democrats in the country."
While the jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll after two weeks of trial testimony and arguments, they did not find that Carroll met the burden of proof in showing that he raped her.
The jury also awarded Carroll $5 million total in damages.
In Carroll's testimony, she said that she bumped into Trump at the entrance of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. He recognized her as "that advice" lady, she testified. At the time, Carroll was a widely known advice column in Elle magazine, as well as a TV show based on the column.
Carroll agreed to assist him in shopping for a gift for another woman. When they got to the sixth-floor lingerie department, Trump raped her in a dressing room, Carroll testified.
Carroll told two friends at the time and swore them to secrecy before she went public with her claims in 2019. Both friends testified at the trial and recalled their conversations with Carroll about the assault.
Trump has maintained that he never met Carroll and that her claims were a hoax. Jurors, however, were shown a photo of Trump and Carroll chatting with their spouses at a gala in 1987, several years before the Bergdorf Goodman incident.