Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) argued on Sunday that the New York sexual assault and defamation verdict against former President Trump should be thrown out due to what he described as a tainted jury from “extremely left-wing jurisdictions.”
A judge ruled last month that Trump should pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defamation, the second such verdict against him after he was found liable for sexually assaulting her in the 1990s.
The Senator claimed in a “This Week” appearance on ABC that the legal cases against Trump are merely political attacks meant to hurt the former president’s 2024 election chances.
“This case, like so many legal cases against Donald Trump, they’re trumped up,” Vance said. “They’re in extremely left-wing jurisdictions. It’s actually the Biden administration prosecuting his chief political rival.”
“These are cases that are very often funded by left-wing donors and they are cases that are funded explicitly to harm [Trump] politically, not to seek justice for any particular group of individuals,” he continued.
Vance defended Trump, saying the alleged political nature of the cases “should call into question” their legal conclusions.
Trump made similar comments blasting the defamation verdict last month.
“Absolutely ridiculous!” he said in a Truth Social post. “I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”