Trump in court as lawyers fight to overturn verdict in E. Jean Carroll sex abuse suit

NEW YORK (AP) — Veering from the campaign trail to a courtroom, Donald Trump quietly observed Friday as his lawyer fought to overturn a verdict finding the former president liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

The Republican nominee and his accuser, E. Jean Carroll, a writer, sat at tables about 15 feet (4.5 meters) apart, in a Manhattan federal appeals court. Trump didn't acknowledge or look at Carroll as he passed directly in front of her on the way in and out, but he sometimes shook his head, including when Carroll's attorney said he sexually attacked her.

Trump attorney D. John Sauer told three 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges that the civil trial in Carroll's lawsuit was muddied by improper evidence.

“This case is a textbook example of implausible allegations being propped up by highly inflammatory, inadmissible" evidence, Sauer said, noting that jurors saw the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump boasted in 2005 about grabbing women's genitals because when someone is a star, “you can do anything.”

Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, told judges the evidence in question was proper, and that there was plenty of proof in the nearly two-week-long trial of Carroll's claim that Trump attacked her in a luxury department store dressing room decades ago. She said the “Access Hollywood” tape, as the trial judge had noted, could be viewed as a confession.

“E. Jean Carroll brought this case because Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in 1996, in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, and then defamed her in 2022 by claiming that she was crazy and made the whole thing up,” Kaplan said.

Carroll, standing with Kaplan outside the courthouse afterward, declined to comment.

Trump left court in a motorcade, then delivered a lengthy diatribe against the case at Trump Tower, where he said again that Carroll — and other women who had accused him of sexual assault — were making everything up.

“It’s so false. It’s a made up, fabricated story by somebody, I think, initially, just looking to promote a book," Trump said. Carroll first spoke publicly about her encounter with Trump in a newly published memoir in 2019.

In remarks to reporters Friday, Trump repeated many claims about Carroll that a jury has already deemed defamatory, and added some new ones, like suggesting that a photograph of him and Carroll together in 1987 was produced by artificial intelligence. It was unclear whether his comments could lead to a new defamation lawsuit by Carroll.

“I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: all options are on the table,” Kaplan said after Trump’s news conference.

The three-judge panel, if it follows the pattern of other appeals, would be unlikely to rule for weeks, if not months.

A jury found in May 2023 that Trump sexually abused Carroll. He denies it. That jury awarded Carroll $5 million.

Trump did not attend the trial and has expressed regret that he was not there.

The civil case has political and financial implications for Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has jabbed at Trump over the jury's verdict, noting repeatedly that he had been found liable for sexual abuse.

And last January, a second jury awarded Carroll another $83.3 million in damages for comments Trump had made about her while he was president, finding that they were defamatory. That jury had been instructed by the judge to accept the first jury's finding that Trump had sexually abused Carroll.

Trump, 78, testified less than three minutes at the second trial and was not permitted to refute conclusions reached by the May 2023 jury. Still, he was animated in the courtroom throughout the two-week trial, and jurors could hear him grumbling about the case.

The appeal of that trial's outcome will be heard by the appeals court at a later date.

Carroll, 80, testified during both trials that her life as an Elle magazine columnist was spoiled by Trump's public comments, which she said ignited such hate against her that she received death threats and feared going outside the upstate New York cabin where she lives.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

During Friday's arguments, Trump's attorney said testimony from witnesses who said Carroll told them about the 1996 encounter with Trump immediately afterward was improper because the witnesses had “egregious bias” against Trump.

Sauer also attacked the trial judge's decision to let two other women testify about similar acts of sex abuse they say Trump committed against them in the 1970s and in 2005. Trump denies those allegations too.

Kaplan said that in each instance of sex abuse, including one that occurred on an airplane, Trump followed a similar pattern in which he would engage in “pleasant chatting” bordering on flirtation and then “all of a sudden out of nowhere, he would, for lack of a better term your honor, pounce.”

She added: “Once these three brave women came forward and said what had happened to them, he said the same thing about all three of them.”

Perhaps foreshadowing the eventual decision, Circuit Judge Denny Chin warned Sauer that the 2nd Circuit generally gives “great deference” to lower court judges on evidentiary issues.

"It's very hard to overturn a jury verdict based on evidentiary rulings," Chin said.

Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.

E. Jean Carroll, center, leaves Manhattan federal court with her attorney Roberta Kaplan, left, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump Tower, Friday, Sept., 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a news conference held at Trump Tower, Friday, Sept., 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

E. Jean Carroll listens as an attorney for former President Donald Trump, presents arguments to the bench in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (Jane Rosenberg via AP)

Attorney John Sauer, center, presents arguments for former President Donald Trump, right, as E. Jean Carroll, second from right, looks on in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (Jane Rosenberg via AP)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a news conference held at Trump Tower, Friday, Sept., 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

E. Jean Carroll exits the New York Federal Court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, after former President Donald Trump appeared in court, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

President Donald Trump, right, and E. Jean Carroll, second from right, listen during arguments by the defense in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (Jane Rosenberg via AP)

E. Jean Carroll exits the New York Federal Court after former President Donald Trump appeared in court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

E. Jean Carroll greets people as she exits the New York Federal Court, after former President Donald Trump made an appearance, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

E. Jean Carroll exits the New York Federal Court after former President Donald Trump appeared in court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Former President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives to the New York Federal Court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

People protest against former President Donald Trump before his arrival to the New York Federal Court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

People protest against former President Donald Trump before his arrival to the New York Federal Court, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event at the Economic Club of New York, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — William Byron's Chevy skidded down the track and came to rest tilted against the wall with a tire jammed into Brad Keselowski's driver-side window in a late fight for position between two NASCAR playoff drivers.

Ryan Blaney never got so lucky to remain in the second playoff race long enough to gobble playoff points. The 2023 NASCAR champion was knocked out at Watkins Glen International on the opening lap Sunday, his Ford towed to the garage against his wishes.

Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Harrison Burton. The list of playoff drivers that took a beating on the track — and in the standings — dwarfed the ones that escaped the road course unscathed.

Already set to retire from full-time racing at the end of the season, Truex had seen enough of the demolition derby that sabotaged his championship push.

“I just don't understand how guys can call themselves the best in the world when they just drive through everyone on restarts at the end of the races,” Truex said. “It is what it is, these days. I'm out of here.”

With championship contenders succumbing to late wrecks, shredded tires, and aggressive driving, Chris Buescher played spoiler and won Sunday at Watkins Glen International, leading a string of five non-playoff drivers to the finish.

“We would have liked to have won a couple of weeks ago, but this is huge,” Buescher said.

The chaos on the 2.45-mile course at The Glen — in the playoffs for the first time before it returns to an August date next year — shook up the playoff standings heading into the cutoff race.

Buescher held off Shane van Gisbergen in the thrilling two final overtime laps and won for the first time this season for RFK Racing. The 31-year-old Texan, who started 24th, has six career victories.

Chase Briscoe, who entered 16th in the playoff standings and 21 points behind the cutline, was sixth and the highest-finishing playoff driver in the field in the second race in NASCAR’s postseason. Four drivers will be cut from the field Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I did what we needed to do,” Briscoe said. “Just need to go do that same thing next week. Just hit singles and doubles. Don't do anything crazy.”

Briscoe shot to 11th in the standings, six points above the cutline. Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Truex, and Burton are the bottom four drivers.

Austin Cindric was 10th, only the second playoff driver in the top 10. Want to find the contenders? Look all the way to the bottom of the race results. Ten playoff drivers were dumped in the bottom 21 finishers.

The race was bedlam for the contenders from the start, when a wreck on the opening lap that knocked out Blaney also slowed fellow playoff drivers and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Christopher Bell.

At least 11 playoff drivers ran into some sort of issue, including a rough scene late in the race where Keselowski and Byron crashed battling for position. Byron’s Chevrolet landed on top of Keselowski’s Ford with six laps left in the scheduled 90-lap race.

There was no way this thriller wasn't going to end in regulation.

One by one, playoff drivers took a beating on the track — and in the standings.

Joey Logano raced his way into the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs by winning the opener last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He finished 15th There was no automatic qualifier at The Glen into the second round.

Bell finished 14th and holds a 46-point lead in the standings.

Kyle Larson, Byron, Briscoe and Ty Gibbs are the final four drivers above the cutline. Hamlin is six points out, Keselowski 12, Truex 14 and Burton is 20 points out of the final spot.

Blaney, the 2023 Cup champion, had his race ended on the opening lap after he was collected in a wreck that also involved playoff drivers Hamlin and Bell.

Blaney went from 45 points above the cutline to 29.

NASCAR rules dictated the No. 12 Ford must be towed to the garage, while Blaney argued his team should have been allowed to try and repair the car on pit road, giving him a shot at staying in the race.

“They didn’t give us a chance to fix it,” Blaney said. “How are they going to dictate if we are done or not? They have no idea of the damage. They said we were done because I couldn’t drive it back to the pit box, but if you have four flats, you get towed back to the pit box. You can’t drive that back. I don’t know what is going on or why they won’t give us a shot to work on it but I don’t agree with.”

NASCAR rules say cars can remain in the race for mechanical issues, not for damage.

Juan Pablo Montoya finished 32nd driving for 23XI Racing in his first Cup race in 10 years.

A two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Montoya never quite reached the heights in NASCAR that he did in his IndyCar, sports cars and Formula 1 careers. He won the Cup race at The Glen in 2010.

NASCAR heads to its playoff cutoff race at Bristol where Hamlin is the defending race winner.

“I feel like we can go there and win," Hamlin said. "We are going to an oval, back to a normal track. We can control our own destiny there.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Ross Chastain (#1) drives into turn one during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)

Ross Chasten (1) drives into Turn One during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)

Shane Van Gisbergen (16) competes during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)

Ross Chasten (1) competes during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)

Chase Briscoe (14) drives through the during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)

Chris Buescher (17) competes in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)

Chris Buescher (17) celebrates winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)

Chris Buescher (17) celebrates winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)