A jury in New York has found former President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. As a result, the former President has been ordered to pay $5 million in damages to the victim, E. Jean Carroll.
“I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. The verdict is a disgrace. [It’s] a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time,” the former President wrote on Truth Social after the verdict was handed down.
The verdict handed down this afternoon stems from an article published by New York Magazine in June 2019. In the article, former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of raping her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s. The former President immediately denied the allegation and claimed that he did not know Carroll. He also added that he couldn’t have committed the crime because Carroll wasn’t his “type.”
“I don’t know this woman, have no idea who she is, other than it seems she got a picture of me many years ago, with her husband, shaking my hand on a reception line at a celebrity charity event. She completely made up a story that I met her at the doors of this crowded New York City Department Store and, within minutes, ‘swooned’ her,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Last fall, the state of New York instituted the New York’s Adult Survivors Act. The act offers residents a one-year window to file sexual abuse lawsuits that would previously be inadmissible due to statutes of limitations. Shortly after the act was put in place, Carroll levied a civil lawsuit against the former President.
“Trump’s underlying sexual assault severely injured Carroll, causing significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological harms, loss of dignity, and invasion of her privacy. His recent defamatory statement has only added to the harm that Carroll had already suffered,” the lawsuit reads.
More than six months later, Carroll and her attorneys were able to bring Trump to court and state their case in a two-week trial. The former columnist opted to testify while the former President did not.
“I am here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” Carroll told the court.
“He lied and shattered my reputation, and I am here to try to get my life back.”
Tuesday’s verdict marks the first time that former President Donald Trump has been found liable for sexual abuse in a civil or criminal trial. Moving forward, he faces criminal charges in New York regarding alleged hush money offered to multiple women. He also faces potential charges in Georgia regarding the most recent presidential election.
