E. Jean Carroll's lawyer: Trump has no legitimate appeal arguments

E. Jean Carroll's lawyer: Trump has no legitimate appeal arguments

Following a jury's Tuesday verdict finding former President Donald Trump guilty of sexually assaulting and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, Carroll's legal team asserts that there is "no legitimate argument" supporting any appeal from Trump.

"I've rarely felt more confident about an appeal than I do about this one," Carroll's attorney Robbie Kaplan said on NBC's "Today" on Wednesday morning. "They have no good reasons to appeal,"

Carroll, who claimed that Trump assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s, was judged to have been the victim of sexual abuse and defamation by a federal jury in New York. After three hours of deliberation, the nine-person jury decided that Trump must pay Carroll $5 million.

After the ruling, Trump's attorney, Joe Tacopina, announced that the former president would appeal because "they rejected the rape claim and they always claimed this was a rape case, so it's a little perplexing." But we keep going.

In a dozen tweets on Truth Social, Trump aired his anger over the case, accused the judge of bias, referring to it as a "witch hunt trial," and disputed knowing Carroll's identity.

"I DO NOT KNOW THE IDENTITY OF THE WOMAN WHO MADE THE FALSE AND COMPLETELY FABRICATED ACCUSATION. HOPEFULLY, JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED ON APPEAL!" Trump tweeted early on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, Carroll told CNN that she shook Tacopina's hand after the trial and told the defense attorney, "He did it and you know it." She said Tacopina grinned but didn't say anything back.

Despite Carroll's testimony that Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room in 1996, the jury concluded that Carroll had not established Trump's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Carroll declined to comment on the verdict when asked on CNN how she felt about it. But when questioned again, she offered some explanation:

"Well, I just think, 'Oh yes you did, oh yes you did.'" She responded, "See, that's my response to the rape allegation. Sexual abuse is a "very, very serious offense," Kaplan continued, even though he wasn't found guilty of rape.

Despite expecting Trump's legal team to drag out the proceedings, Kaplan anticipated that the matter would be resolved in less than a year.

On Wednesday, Kaplan stated on MSNBC, "I don't think he's going to be able to delay very much here" because the judges are already aware of his tactic of "delay, delay, delay." "I'd anticipate a maximum of six months to a year, possibly even earlier if we can persuade them to expedite."