Donald Trump openly criticized his legal team Friday as they stood behind him at a press conference in New York City.
The former president said he was “disappointed” with the attorneys’ handling of the case involving writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual abuse and then defamation, of which he was found guilty. Trump spent nearly half an hour discussing the case after a hearing on the possibility of a retrial.
“I have all this legal talent, but legal talent cannot overcome rigged judges; they can’t overcome a 4 percent Republican area,” Trump said during the news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
“I’m disappointed in my legal talent, I’ll be honest with you.”
Members of his legal team appeared uncomfortable as he criticized them and began speaking on other elements of the case.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at Trump Tower in New York City on September 6. Trump held a press conference after attempting to get a new trial after a jury found he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll (inset).
Michael M. Santiago/Alex Kent/Getty Images
Trump then questioned why the attorneys did not mention potential evidence during Friday’s hearing: a dress.
Carroll allegedly wore the dress in question on the day she said Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Stains on it were tested and found to have an unknown man’s DNA present, but Trump’s team refused to submit his DNA for testing, causing a standoff in the original case.
There was not enough evidence to convict Trump of rape, but instead, a jury convicted him of sexual abuse and awarded Carroll $5 million in 2023.
After voicing his displeasure with his current legal team, Trump invited one to the microphone to speak about Friday’s hearing.
“It’s really important to remember that E. Jean Carroll‘s story, at its heart, is an utterly implausible he said-she said story,” attorney Will Scharf said, saying there was no corroborating evidence for the alleged attack.
Trump also criticized a former attorney at the first trial for not allowing him to attend, saying he wanted to “show up.”
“So I didn’t show up, and I was found guilty for something I did not do with a woman that I have never seen, touched, or in any way was involved with,” he said. “Nor would I want to be.”
“My people said: ‘Please don’t say that!’ I would not want to be involved with her,” Trump said.
Attorneys Todd Blanche (L) and Emil Bove watch as former President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at Trump Tower on September 6. Trump said he was “disappointed” in his legal team during the press conference.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Trump has frequently criticized his legal team, accusing the team involved in the case against him over the Capitol riot not being aggressive enough and the attorneys on the classified documents case of not getting it dismissed fast enough.
In attacking Carroll and her story, Trump potentially opened himself up to further defamation filings from the writer’s attorneys.
In early 2024, Carroll was awarded an additional $83.3 million in compensation in a defamation case brought over Trump’s comments about the original trial.
Trump also used the news conference, billed initially as about his election campaign, to attack other witnesses in the case and rail against the other cases against him.
“It’s political interference, it’s a witch hunt,” Trump claimed.
