The court left open the possibility that the former president could still prevail in his effort to claim immunity from civil cases seeking to hold him accountable for the violence.
Donald Trump hit out at one of his own lawyers over the advice he says he received in the civil sexual assault case brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll, in a post on his Truth Social website on Thursday.
In May, a New York jury found the former presidentliable for sexually abusing Carroll in the Bergdorf Goodman department store during the mid-1990s and then defaming her character once the accusation became public. Trump, who continues to strongly deny the claims against him, was ordered to pay $5 million in compensation and punitive damages.
Trump did not appear before the New York court in person despite at one point telling journalists he "probably" would attend. This was used against the former president by Carroll's lawyer Mike Ferrara who, addressing the jurors, said: "He never looked you in the eye and denied raping Ms. Carroll."
Trump suggested he regrets this decision in a Truth Social post: "I was asked by my lawyer not to attend—'It was beneath me, and they have no case.' That was not good advice."
In the same post, he also hit out at Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder who helped fund Carroll's case and recently donated $250,000 to a Super PAC supporting Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley.
The 2024 GOP frontrunner shared screenshots from a New York Times article about Hoffman's support for Haley, adding: "This disgusting Slob, a Democrat Political Operative, is the same guy who funded a woman who I knew absolutely nothing about, sued me for Rape, for which I was found NOT GUILTY.
"She didn't remember the year, decade, or much else! In Interviews she said some amazingly 'inconsistent' things. Disgraceful Trial—Very unfair."
Contrary to Trump's claim, he was not found "not guilty" of rape. The jury found him liable for sexual abuse but not rape. Civil cases do typically not speak, like criminal ones, of guilt or innocence but instead use the terms "liable" or "not liable."
Trump was represented in the Carroll case by Joseph Tacopina, but it's not clear if this is who he was referring to in the Truth Social post. The former president employs a range of lawyers in his various legal disputes, which include four upcoming criminal trials.
Newsweek has reached out to Tacopina for comment by email and Trump via the press enquiry form on his official website.
In September, New York Judge Lewis Kaplan concluded Trump had defamed Carroll in a second lawsuit stemming from his response to her initial public accusation in mid-2019 and comments made in May during a CNN town hall, where he branded her a "whack job" making "fake" claims. The trial to determine what damages he must pay is set to begin in January.
Speaking to Newsweek, Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, said there is no limit to the number of times Carroll can sue Trump for making defamatory statements.
Former President Donald Trump attends his civil fraud trial in New York State Supreme Court on December 7, 2023 in New York City. Trump said he did not receive "good advice" from his lawyer in a civil sexual assault case.DAVID DEE DELGADO/GETTY
He said: "Trump can be sued every time he defames her, through his speeches and written words. Each successive case becomes easier for Carroll's lawyers to win."
According to The New York Times, billionaire Hoffman, who has previously donated large sums to the Democrats, recently gave $250,000 to SFA Fund Inc., a super PAC supporting former South Carolina Governor Haley's bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Haley attracted a surge in support from prominent business figures following a strong performance in the third Republican debate and after a Wall Street Journal poll put her second behind Trump as Republicans' favored presidential candidate, on 15 percent versus his 59 percent.[/LEFT]
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