Donald Trump Found Liable for Defamation, Sexual Abuse in Civil Lawsuit
A Manhattan federal jury on Tuesday found former president Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and ordered him to pay $5 million in compensation and fines in the civil lawsuit.
The jury, following a two-week civil trial, rejected Carroll’s claim that Trump sexually assaulted her in 1996. Jurors also found that Mr. Trump defamed Ms. Carroll in comments he made denying her allegations, which she first made publicly in 2019.
The 79-year-old Carroll said that Trump allegedly raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store almost 30 years ago.
She was working as a writer for Elle magazine at the time and said that Trump asked her for help choosing a gift for a woman. They allegedly ended up in a dressing room after looking around the store and making small talk. Here Carroll said that Trump pushed her against the wall and raped her.
She said that she was then able to flee after a few minutes.
“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen. He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back,” Carroll said in her testimony at the trial.
Trump maintained he did not assault Carroll or even know her. He did not attend the trial.
The former president, who is seeking a run for the White House in 2024, said the verdict was a “disgrace,” and again claimed it was part of a political “witch hunt” against him.
Trump has previously cited the trial in campaign fundraising emails as evidence of what he describes as a Democratic attempt to destroy him politically.
In March, he was indicted over hush money payments to an adult film star before his 2016 presidential election victory. His poll number improved after the indictment, which made him the first former US president to be criminally charged.
