The jurors who found that former President Trump sexually abused author E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s were advised to remain anonymous “for a long time.”
CNN reported that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan informed the jurors they could now identify themselves if they wish after they were dismissed, but he advised them not to. Kaplan previously ordered an anonymous jury for the trial, saying the jurors needed protection from harassment.
“My advice to you is not to identify yourselves. Not now and not for a long time,” Kaplan said. “If you’re one who elects to speak to others and to identify yourselves to others, I direct you not to identify anyone else who sat on this jury. Each of you owes that to the other, whatever you decided for yourself.”
Kaplan had referenced the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and Trump’s various statements taking aim at jurors and officials involved in other cases as reasons for ordering an anonymous jury.
Shortly after the nine-person jury found Trump liable of sexual abuse and that he defamed Carroll when denying her allegations against him, Trump said he plans to appeal the case, telling Fox News Digital that, “We’ll appeal. We got treated very badly by the Clinton-appointed judge.”
“I have absolutely no idea who this woman is,” Trump wrote in all capital letters on Truth Social shortly after the verdict was announced. “This verdict is a disgrace – A continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time!”
Carroll came forward in 2019 to accuse Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room. She sued him for sexual battery and for defaming her over comments he made last year that denied her allegations.