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Presidential candidate and former South Carolina candidate Nikki Haley refused to convict Donald Trump on Sunday, after the former president was found responsible this week for defaming and sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll.
Asked if it tarnishes the Republican Party that its leading figure has been found responsible for such crimes, Ms. Haley responded that all parties must be heard in a legal proceeding and that it is up to the American people to make a judgment.
“I have always said that anyone who feels they have been sexually assaulted in any way should come forward and make their voice heard,” Ms Haley said. told CBS News Take on the Nation on Sunday. “I also believe that anyone who has been accused should be able to defend themselves. I was not on the jury. I am not the judge. I think they both made their voices heard. There has been a verdict and there has been an appeal.”
When asked if this meant Ms Haley was challenging the verdict, she refused.
“There is a verdict and I think there has been an appeal,” he said. “I think it’s where it is and I think the American people should make a decision based on that.”
During the trial, a New York jury heard detailed accounts of how Trump sexually assaulted Carroll in a dressing room at Manhattan’s upscale Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996. Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, who are among more than two dozen Women who have accused Mr. Trump of sexual assault and misconduct also testified.
“I brought this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and get my life back,” Carroll said after the verdict. “Today the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not only for me, but for every woman who has suffered because they did not believe her”.
Following the decision, Trump, who insists the attack never took place and that he does not know Carroll, lashed out at the elle writer for the magazine during a CNN town hall, calling the allegations “false” and a “made up story.”
Trump filed a notice Thursday with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that he plans to challenge the $5 million decision, while Carroll’s lawyers indicated they may sue Trump again for continuing to call the writer a liar.
“Everything is on the table, obviously, and we have to seriously consider it,” said attorney Roberta Kaplan. The New York Times. “We have to weigh the various pros and cons and will probably make a decision in the next few days.”
