(New York) Writer E. Jean Carroll was awarded $5 million Tuesday by a Manhattan jury that found former President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her — while clearing him of her rape claim.
Carroll, 79, held her head down as the verdict was read in Manhattan federal court — and nodded when she heard the jury finding in favor of her defamation claim for Trump, 76, branding her a liar when she came forward with her allegations that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in 1996.
The verdict could dog an embattled Trump in his 2024 presidential bid and is just one of many legal issues he faces — including a pending criminal case related to “hush money” payments.
The nine-person jury — three women and six men — decided the case after three hours of deliberations that began just before noon Tuesday.
Neither Carroll nor her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, spoke to the mass of reporters outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse as they left hand in hand, with the former “Ask E. Jean” columnist breezing through the crowd and into a waiting car.
“I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social following the verdict.
Speaking outside court, his attorney, Joe Tacopina, vowed to appeal the verdict.
“He’s firm in his belief, as many people are, that he can’t get a fair trial in New York City based on the jury pool,” Tacopina said of Trump. “I think one could argue that’s an accurate assessment based on what happened today.”
As a reporter asked if it would derail Trump’s run for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, Tacopina quickly interjected: “nope.”
A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump liable in the E. Jean Carroll rape case.AP Photo/John Minchillo
In a statement through her attorney later Thursday, Carroll said she filed suit against Trump “to clear my name and to get my life back.”
“Today, the world finally knows the truth,” she said. “This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”
While jurors rejected Carroll’s claim in her 2022 suit that Trump had raped her, they found him liable for sexual abuse. Carroll had accused Trump of attacking her in a fitting room at the Fifth Avenue department store, most likely in 1996. He has denied her allegations.
Watchers in the court gallery cried tears of joy when the verdict finding Trump liable for sexual abuse was read out.
Trump has denied that the encounter ever happened.Getty Images
Jurors also found in favor of Carroll on her claim that the ex-president defamed her in a lengthy Oct. 12, 2022, Truth Social post claiming her accusations were a “hoax.”
The decision comes after eight days of trial spread over three weeks, where the jury heard from 11 witnesses including Carroll, two other Trump accusers and two pals whom Carroll confided in about the alleged attack.
Trump did not attend the trial but the jury saw clips of his video deposition. He also didn’t call any witnesses or present any evidence.
Carroll exiting Manhattan Federal Court after the verdict on May 9, 2023.REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the whole trial was a “witch hunt” against him.Donald Trump/TruthSocial
Carroll took the witness stand for three days, recounting how she ran into the real estate mogul at the high-end store, across from Trump Tower, most likely in the spring of 1996.
Carroll — who had a successful column in Elle magazine at the time — agreed to help Trump find a gift for a woman and the pair walked through the store flirting and exchanging banter, she said.
Trump led her to a desolate sixth-floor lingerie department where he tossed a see-through negligee at Carroll, asking her to try it on, she claimed. But Carroll jokingly threw the lacy one-piece back at Trump, telling him to try it on, she claimed.
Then Trump led her into an open fitting room, where he pinned her against the wall and bumped her head twice, during what she called a “fight,” Carroll testified.
