Donald Trump sexually abused writer E Jean Carroll, must pay her $5 million, announces jury
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.
Donald Trump was on Tuesday found responsible for assaulting advice writer E Jean Carroll sexually in the 1990s, and they awarded her $5 million. The jury found Trump guilty of calling Carroll a liar in order to defame her.
Reacting to the verdict, the former president said on his Truth Social social media network, in all capital letters, "This verdict is a disgrace -- a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time."
Carroll declared in a statement after the verdict that "now, the world finally knows the truth. This triumph belongs to all women who have endured suffering as a result of being disbelieved, not just to me."
The jury, required to reach a unanimous verdict, deliberated for just under three hours. Carroll received $5 million in compensation and punitive damages from the panel's six men and three women, but Trump will not be held responsible while the case is on appeal.
More than a dozen women, including Carroll, have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. Her claim that the Republican sexually assaulted her in an upscale Manhattan department store's changing room was made public in a 2019 biography.
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Trump refuted the claims and said that he was unaware of Carroll and had never met her at the shop. She created "a fraudulent and false story" to promote a memoir, calling her a "nut job" in his words.
Carroll, 79, testified during the civil trial that Trump, 76, sexually assaulted her in either 1995 or 1996 in a dressing room at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. Trump later damaged Carroll's reputation by writing in an article published in October 2022 on his Truth Social platform that Carroll's claims were "a complete con job," "a hoax," and "a lie."