President-elect Donald Trump addressed the recent confession by former stripper and current murder convict, Crystal Mangum, who admitted this week to lying about being raped by three Duke lacrosse players in 2006. 

Trump wrote a message on Truth Social early Saturday morning, lambasting Mangum for "destroying the lives" of the innocent men she accused. 

"Woman admits to totally fabricating accusations in the horrible Duke Lacrosse Case. She destroyed the lives of these young men," Trump wrote. 

Mangum's confession came on Thursday during an interview from her jail cell with the independent media outlet "Let's Talk With Kat." 

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"I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn't, and that was wrong, and I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me," Mangum said. "[I] made up a story that wasn't true, because I wanted validation from people and not from God."

The former Duke players, David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, were declared innocent in 2007. The state attorney general’s office concluded there was no credible evidence that an attack had ever occurred, and its investigation found no DNA, witnesses or other evidence to confirm Mangum’s story.

However, the player's lives were severely affected, according to one of their lawyers. 

One of the former players’ attorneys, Jim Cooney, told The Associated Press that Mangum’s allegations caused an "enormous tornado of destruction" for countless people involved, including the accused men, and that they were wrongfully vilified nationally as "racially motivated rapists."

CRYSTAL GAIL MANGUM: PROFILE OF THE DUKE RAPE ACCUSER

Other individuals who helped perpetuate the false allegations include Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong, who was the lead prosecutor in the case, and former Duke University president Richard Brodhead, who punished the team over the false allegations and canceled the rest of the 2006 season.

Nifong was later disbarred, and Brodhead apologized for the university's "failure to reach out" in a "time of extraordinary peril." Brodhead was then one of 30 individuals named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in 2007 by the players and stepped down in 2017. 

Mangum can not be prosecuted for perjury now, because the statute of limitations on perjury charges in North Carolina only lasts around two years. 

Mangum was later indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and two counts of larceny in March 2011. A year before that, she was convicted on misdemeanor charges after setting a fire that nearly torched her home with her three children inside. In a videotaped police interrogation, she told officers she had gotten into a confrontation with her boyfriend at the time, not Daye, and burned his clothes, smashed his car windshield and threatened to stab him.

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Former stripper and current murder convict Crystal Mangum confessed to lying about being raped by Duke Lacrosse players in an interview on the independent media outlet "Let's Talk With Kat" on Thursday.

"I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn't and that was wrong, and I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me," Mangum said. "[I] made up a story that wasn't true because I wanted validation from people and not from God."

Mangum, who is serving a prison sentence for murdering her boyfriend, falsely accused three Duke players of raping her while she was performing at a team party in March 2006. The players she accused were arrested, igniting a national controversy and conversations about racism. The allegations even resulted in the team having to cancel its season.

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The three players, David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, were all found innocent of the crimes. But Mangum was not prosecuted for perjury due to questions about her mental health. 

"She may have actually believed the many different stories that she has been telling," said former North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper in 2006. 

Mangum can not be prosecuted for perjury now because the statute of limitations on perjury charges in North Carolina only lasts around two years. 

Lead prosecutor in the case, Mike Nifong was the Durham County district attorney at the time of the trial. 

CRYSTAL GAIL MANGUM: PROFILE OF THE DUKE RAPE ACCUSER

Nifong was later disbarred in 2007 after it was revealed that he failed to turn over DNA evidence that would have been helpful to the defense's case. In a report from The Associated Press at the time, Nifong said he was unaware that crucial evidence hadn’t been handed over to the defense. 

Mangum also asserted that "something" happened that night in a book she published in 2008 titled "Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story."

"I will never say that nothing at all happened that night," she wrote. 

Mangum was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and two counts of larceny in March 2011. A year before that, she was convicted on misdemeanor charges after setting a fire that nearly torched her home with her three children inside. In a videotaped police interrogation, she told officers she got into a confrontation with her boyfriend at the time, not Daye, and burned his clothes, smashed his car windshield and threatened to stab him.

According to North Carolina Department of Corrections records, she was born on July 18, 1978, to a truck driver. She grew up the youngest of three children, not far from the house where she claimed she was assaulted in 2006. 

In 1993, when she was 14 years old, Mangum claimed to have been kidnapped by three men, driven to a house in Creedmoor, N.C., 15 miles away from Durham, and raped. She said one of the men was her boyfriend at the time and was a physically and emotionally abusive man seven years older than she was. 

Creedmoor Police Chief Ted Pollard said Mangum filed a report on the incident on Aug. 18, 1996, three years after the rapes allegedly took place. The case, however, was not pursued, because the accuser backed away from the charges out of fear for her life, according to her relatives.

Vincent Clark, a friend who co-authored Mangum's self-published memoir, said he hopes people don't rush to judgment -- echoing one of the oft-cited lessons of the lacrosse case itself.

Clark said Mangum realizes she has mental health problems.

"I'm sad for her. I hope people realize how difficult it is being her," Clark said.

These false allegations leveled against the Duke lacrosse players captivated the community for several years, this case has been covered in depth by the Duke Chronicle. 

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Duke Blue Devils quarterback Maalik Murphy caused some controversy over the weekend when he raised his middle fingers toward the sky after throwing a touchdown pass against Virginia Tech.

Murphy threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-28 win over the Hokies. Each touchdown was thrown to Eli Pancol.

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However, the middle-finger incident was enough to spark a reaction from Duke head coach Manny Diaz, who said Monday the quarterback faces internal discipline over it.

Diaz explained that Murphy’s gesture was directed toward offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer following "banter" between them before the game. 

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"There was a practice in the middle of last week when we throwing post after post after post, and we weren’t completing them," Diaz said. "And it was again and again and again and again. And at the end of that, there was a remark made in jest that, ‘If you throw a post for a touchdown in the game, then you can flick me off,’ from Coach Brewer."

The middle fingers were captured on the ACC Network broadcast. Brewer said he saw Murphy make the gesture on a replay.

"Some things you say on the field when you’re coaching obviously isn’t meant to be taken literally when you’re trying to get after somebody in that world," he said.

Duke finishes the season on Saturday against Wake Forest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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