E. Jean Carroll Sexual Abuse Defamation
🟡 Fraud & Financial Crime ·
May 9, 2023 / Jan 26, 2024
Summary
A federal jury found Trump civilly liable on May 9, 2023 for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s, and for defaming her by publicly denying it. The jury awarded $5 million in damages (Carroll II). In a separate defamation trial in January 2024 (Carroll I), relating to Trump’s denials during his presidency, a second jury awarded an additional $83.3 million, finding Trump acted ‘with actual malice.’ Judge Lewis Kaplan noted Trump continued defaming Carroll during the trial itself, stating he would do so ‘a thousand times.’ Trump’s total liability stands at $88.3 million. Both verdicts have been affirmed on appeal. Trump was the first U.S. president, sitting or former, to be found civilly liable for a sexual assault by a jury. The DOJ, under Trump’s first term, had controversially attempted to shield him from the Carroll lawsuit by arguing his denials were made in his official capacity as president.
Key Figures
Institutions Involved
Sources
- Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll - must pay her $5 million - jury says
- Trump fails to overturn E. Jean Carroll’s $83 million verdict
- Carroll v Trump Courtlistener Docs