Trump Appealing Defamation Verdict

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump announced last week that they would be appealing the more than $83 million settlement against Trump for his statements regarding author E. Jean Carroll. The attorneys argued that there was an improper conflict of interest from both the judge and the plaintiff.

Trump attorney Alina Habba said that she did not know that Judge Lewis Kaplan had worked with Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, who had worked at the same law firm in the 1990s.

Habba said that the information was “never disclosed.” She further called the situation “insane and so incestuous.”

Trump’s attorney said that the revelation was “news to us.” She said that the legal team would include the information in the appeal “and take appropriate measures. The fact that it wasn’t disclosed is an ethics violation.”

A spokesperson for the attorney Kaplan, who is not related to Judge Kaplan, insisted that there was no conflict of interest, saying that the two worked at a “large law firm” in the 1990s and did not oversee the other. However, another attorney from the firm said that the judge had acted like a mentor to the attorney.

Meanwhile, the former president took to social media to call the verdict “Absolutely ridiculous!” He further wrote that he would be “appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party.”

“Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon,” he wrote. “They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”

Trump calls $83 million defamation ruling "absolutely ridiculous," says he plans to appeal. pic.twitter.com/NcLlGJpeDJ

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 26, 2024

The jury decision this week was the second such court case regarding Trump and the author. Following accusations from Carroll, Trump was originally ordered to pay her $5 million.

However, Carroll and her attorneys later argued that the former president’s statements against her were defamatory, leading to the $83.3 million decision this week. Trump had left the proceedings prior to the announcement of the jury’s decision.

Habba has insisted that the judge in the case acted improperly and blamed the outcome on interference.