Judge in E. Jean Carroll Trial Gives Jury Ominous Warning After Damning Trump Verdict

Judge Lewis Kaplan had just a few short words to share with the jury moments after they issued a whopping $83.3 million verdict against Donald Trump in the defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.

“My advice to you is that you never disclose that you were on this jury,” Kaplan said.

That foreboding warning—which sounds more like something you’d expect to hear in a trial against a mob boss rather than a former president—is just one of many extraordinary measures that Kaplan has taken to keep his jury safe. Prior to the trial’s start, Kaplan also decided to keep the jury partially sequestered and fully anonymous, instructing them not to use their real names even with one another.

Trump proved moments after the trial that there’s a good reason for the extra precautions, launching into a social media diatribe in which he claimed he would be attempting to appeal the decision.

“Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “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!”

Trump was already found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll. With fines from the previous trial, he now owes Carroll a total of $88.3 million.