Donald Trump Responsible for Defamation And Sexual Abuse

Former President Donald Trump has been found liable for battery and defamation by a federal jury in a civil trial against E. Jean Carroll, a writer who accused him of raping her in a Manhattan department store in 1996.

Though the jury did not find him guilty of rape, they found it more probable than not that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. They also found that he defamed her in comments he made denying her allegations when she first made them public in 2019. Trump has been ordered to pay $5 million in damages.

The verdict is a major rebuke to Donald Trump, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination for 2024 but is facing numerous legal issues.

He has separate charges against him in New York for paying hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election, as well as for pressuring Georgia officials after the 2020 election, his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, and his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence. He is also facing civil fraud allegations from the New York attorney general and another civil lawsuit from Carroll.

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Though he has denied any wrongdoing, Donald Trump did not attend any of the proceedings in person but did give a videotaped deposition under oath, in which he accused Carroll of fabricating her allegations for publicity and political reasons. In response to the verdict, he called it a “disgrace” in a social media post, also claiming not to know Carroll.

During the trial, Carroll testified over three days, telling jurors that she and Donald Trump had struck up a conversation in Bergdorf Goodman in 1996, which led to him sexually assaulting her in a dressing room.

While the attack lasted only a few minutes, it left her “unable to ever have a romantic life again,” she said. Carroll sparred with Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for Trump, on the witness stand as he tried to raise doubts about the details of her account, asking her why she didn’t scream or go to the police. Carroll said that “women like me were taught and trained to keep our chins up and to not complain.”

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Mr. Tacopina also noted that Carroll had made a Facebook joke about having sex with Trump for money and was a fan of “The Apprentice,” the reality TV show that he hosted.

While jurors were only deciding on Carroll’s allegations, the trial became a broader examination of Trump’s treatment of women, resurfacing derogatory comments he made in the past. Two women also testified at the trial, claiming they were sexually assaulted by him in a similar manner years ago. Mr. Trump has previously denied their allegations.

Though it remains to be seen whether the verdict will affect Trump’s 2024 campaign, legal setbacks and defeats haven’t slowed him before, with many of his supporters remaining steadfast amid the swirl of controversy. Republicans rallied around him in April when he was charged in the hush-money case, and his campaign saw a flood of small-dollar donations. However, the compounding effect of his legal troubles could further turn off Republicans who have wavered on Trump, especially those in hotly contested suburban areas.

Carroll’s complaint was one of the most prominent lawsuits filed under a New York law allowing victims of sexual assault to sue their attackers.