WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump will appear in court Friday and hold a news conference afterward as his lawyers argue that the $5 million conviction that found him guilty of sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996 should be overturned.
It’s part of the starkly different approaches Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are taking ahead of their debate Tuesday: The former president will remain in the public eye while Harris prepares privately with advisers in Pittsburgh. This reflects their different campaigning styles, as Trump frequently engages with reporters — albeit often on friendly terms — while Harris has done just one interview and no press conferences since taking over from President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Trump is scheduled to speak to reporters at his eponymous tower in downtown New York after hearing the pleas in Carroll’s case. He walked in quietly and passed Carroll without acknowledging or looking at him.
The former president reacted at times during the trial, such as shaking his head, when Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said Trump sexually abused her client. He tilts his head from side to side from time to time, but otherwise sits still and mostly alone.
In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of sexual assault. Carroll says Trump assaulted her in a department store dressing room, but the former president’s legal team says the conviction should be overturned because some evidence allowed during the trial should have been excluded, while other evidence that should have been excluded was allowed. He denies his guilt.
In the midst of running for president and several other lawsuits against him, Trump did not attend Carroll’s trial and was not present when the charges were read — though he called the verdict a “disgrace” on social media. site.
Later on Friday, he will travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to address the Brotherhood of Police.
Carroll was one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. He came to the public in the 2019 memoirs. Trump denied that, saying he never met Carroll at the store and didn’t know him. He has called her a “nut job” who made up her story to sell the memoir.
Trump faces unprecedented criminal and civil legal threats for a major party nominee.
He has been separately convicted of 34 felonies in a New York state case related to alleged swindling payments to the porn star. The judge is expected to decide on Friday whether to delay Trump’s sentencing.
Trump has also been ordered to pay steep civil fines for lying about his wealth for years.
And he’s still grappling with allegations that he misused classified documents, his actions after the 2020 election and his actions during the rebellion at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — though no one is likely to face trial before Election Day.
