A jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House.
The verdict was split: Jurors rejected CarrollB次元官网网址檚 claim that she was raped, finding Trump responsible for a lesser degree of sexual abuse. The judgment adds to TrumpB次元官网网址檚 legal woes and offers vindication to Carroll, whose allegations had been mocked and dismissed by Trump for years.
She nodded as the verdict was announced in a New York City federal courtroom only three hours after , then hugged supporters and smiled through tears. As the courtroom cleared, Carroll could be heard laughing and crying.
Jurors also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll over her allegations. Trump did not attend the civil trial and was absent when the verdict was read.
Trump immediately lashed out on his social media site, claiming that he does not know Carroll and referring to the verdict as B次元官网网址渁 disgraceB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渁 continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.B次元官网网址� He promised to appeal.
TrumpB次元官网网址檚 lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, shook hands with Carroll and hugged her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, after the verdict was announced. Outside the courthouse, he told reporters the juryB次元官网网址檚 rejection of the rape claim while finding Trump responsible for sexual abuse was B次元官网网址減erplexingB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渟trange.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淧art of me was obviously very happy that Donald Trump was not branded a rapist,B次元官网网址� he said.
He defended TrumpB次元官网网址檚 absence, citing the trialB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渃ircus atmosphere.B次元官网网址� He said having Trump there B次元官网网址渨ould be more of a circus.B次元官网网址�
Tacopina added: B次元官网网址淲hat more can you say other than B次元官网网址業 didnB次元官网网址檛 do itB次元官网网址�?B次元官网网址�
In a written statement, Kaplan said the verdict proved nobody is above the law, B次元官网网址渘ot even the president of the United States.B次元官网网址�
Carroll, in her own statement, said she sued Trump to B次元官网网址渃lear my name and to get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.B次元官网网址�
It was unclear what, if any, implications the verdict would have on TrumpB次元官网网址檚 third presidential bid. HeB次元官网网址檚 in a commanding position among GOP contenders and has faced few political consequences in the wake of previous controversies, ranging from the vulgar B次元官网网址淎ccess HollywoodB次元官网网址� tape to his New York criminal indictment.
His GOP rivals were mostly silent after the verdict, a sign of their reluctance to cross Trump supporters who are critical to winning the presidential nomination. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, one of the few vocal Trump critics in the race, said the verdict was B次元官网网址渁nother example of the indefensible behavior of Donald Trump.B次元官网网址�
was one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. She went public in a 2019 memoir with her allegation that the Republican raped her in the dressing room of a posh Manhattan department store.
Trump, 76, , saying he never encountered Carroll at the store and did not know her. He has called her a B次元官网网址渘ut jobB次元官网网址� who invented B次元官网网址渁 fraudulent and false storyB次元官网网址� to sell a memoir.
Carroll, 79, sought unspecified damages, plus a retraction of what she said were TrumpB次元官网网址檚 defamatory denials of her claims.
The trial revisited the lightning-rod topic of TrumpB次元官网网址檚 conduct toward women.
Carroll gave multiple days of , buttressed by two friends who testified that she reported the alleged attack to them soon afterward.
Jurors also heard from Jessica Leeds, a former stockbroker who testified that Trump abruptly groped her against her will on an airline flight in the 1970s, and from Natasha Stoynoff, a writer who said Trump forcibly kissed her against her will while she was interviewing him for a 2005 article.
The six-man, three-woman jury also saw the well-known 2005 B次元官网网址淎ccess HollywoodB次元官网网址� hot-mic recording of Trump talking about kissing and grabbing women without asking.
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll, Leeds and Stoynoff have done.
The verdict comes as Trump faces an accelerating swirl of legal risks.
HeB次元官网网址檚 fighting a New York criminal case related to hush money payments made to a porn actor. The state attorney general has sued him, his family and his business over alleged financial wrongdoing.
Trump is also contending with investigations into his possible mishandling of classified documents, his actions after the 2020 election and his activities during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump denies wrongdoing in all of those matters.
Carroll, who penned an Elle magazine advice column for 27 years, has also written for magazines and B次元官网网址淪aturday Night Live.B次元官网网址� She and Trump were in social circles that overlapped at a 1987 party, where a photo documented them and their then-spouses interacting. Trump has said he doesnB次元官网网址檛 remember it.
According to Carroll, she ended up in a dressing room with Trump after they ran into each other at Bergdorf Goodman on an unspecified Thursday evening in spring 1996.
They took an impromptu jaunt to the lingerie department so he could search for a womenB次元官网网址檚 gift and soon were teasing each other about trying on a skimpy bodysuit, Carroll testified. To her, it seemed like comedy, something like her 1986 B次元官网网址淪aturday Night LiveB次元官网网址� sketch in which a man admires himself in a mirror.
But then, she said, Trump slammed the door, pinned her against a wall, planted his mouth on hers, yanked her tights down and raped her as she tried to break away. Carroll said she ultimately pushed him off with her knee and immediately left the store.
B次元官网网址淚 always think back to why I walked in there to get myself in that situation,B次元官网网址� she testified, her voice breaking, B次元官网网址渂ut IB次元官网网址檓 proud to say I did get out.B次元官网网址�
She never called police or noted it in her diary. Carroll said she kept silent for fear Trump would retaliate, out of shame and because she worried that people would see her as somewhat responsible for being attacked.
The jury awarded Carroll $2 million for TrumpB次元官网网址檚 sexual abuse and $20,000 in punitive damages. For defamation, jurors awarded $1 million for TrumpB次元官网网址檚 October statement, another $1.7 million for harm to CarrollB次元官网网址檚 reputation and $280,000 in punitive damages.
Tacopina told jurors Carroll invented her claims after hearing about a 2012 B次元官网网址淟aw and OrderB次元官网网址� episode in which a woman is raped in the dressing room of the lingerie section of a Bergdorf Goodman store.
Carroll B次元官网网址渃annot produce any objective evidence to back up her claim because it didnB次元官网网址檛 happen,B次元官网网址� he told jurors. He accused her of B次元官网网址渁dvancing a false claim of rape for money, for political reasons and for status.B次元官网网址�
In questioning Carroll, he sought to cast doubt on her description of fighting off the far heavier Trump without dropping her handbag or ripping her tights, and without anyone around to hear or see them in the lingerie section.
The lawyer pressed her about B次元官网网址� by her own account B次元官网网址� not screaming, looking for help while fleeing the store or seeking out medical attention, security video or police.
Carroll reproached him.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 telling you he raped me, whether I screamed or not,B次元官网网址� she said.
ThereB次元官网网址檚 no possibility of Trump being charged with attacking Carroll, as the legal time limit has long since passed.
For similar reasons, she initially filed her civil case as a defamation lawsuit, saying TrumpB次元官网网址檚 derogatory denials had subjected her to hatred, shredded her reputation and harmed her career.
Then, starting last fall, New York state gave people a chance to sue over sexual assault allegations that would otherwise be too old. Carroll was one of the first to file.
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