Former President Donald Trump denied sexual assault charges made by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, and on Friday a New York jury sentenced him to pay $83.3 million in damages for defaming her.
Carroll received $7.3 million in punitive penalties in addition to $65 million in damages and $11 million for the injury done to her career. Trump is likely to file an appeal against this ruling.
Even with the size of the damages, the decision was not totally surprising. Before the trial, Judge Lewis Kaplan rendered a decision in which he declared that Trump had in fact defamed Carroll. The jury’s only job was to find out how much Trump was liable, not if he was guilty. This is the second time that Carroll has received an order for damages from Trump; the first came from a previous defamation lawsuit last year, in which Trump was required to pay $5 million in damages.
In reaction, Trump said in a statement released in January 2024—during his campaign for president in 2024—that the case is a “political weapon” without offering any supporting details.
The statement said, “Definitely ridiculous!” “I do not agree with either decision, and I will appeal directly to Biden, who is focused on me and the Republican Party.”
Carroll made his choice a few days after Trump emerged victorious in the New Hampshire primary and assumed the lead in the Republican race. Trump is awaiting a ruling in multiple cases, the most recent of which could cost him at least $250 million due to his allegedly dishonest business operations in New York, as determined by a judge.
Restrictions on conducting business in the state where he established his reputation as a real estate tycoon may also apply to him. At the federal and state levels, Trump is being accused of 91 different offenses, including those pertaining to the Capitol disturbance on January 6.
Here is a quick synopsis of the case E. Jean Carroll:
2019 saw columnist and Free Lance author Carroll accuse Trump of having sexually assaulted women in the 1990s. The original presentation of this accusation was in a New York Magazine piece. Following the article’s publication, Trump responded with two remarks, one of which is part of the complaint. In that statement, he refuted her allegations and said, “She’s not my type.”
Carroll then sued Trump for defamation, alleging that his statements had tarnished her reputation and provoked a barrage of insults, threatening letters, and comments on her social media pages.
Bill Barr, the attorney general for Trump, filed a motion to halt the lawsuit at that point, claiming that Trump had made the remarks in his official capacity as president. This tactic caused the matter to remain unresolved for a number of years.
The Biden Justice Department changed its mind in 2023 and let the first defamation lawsuit to go forward. The case might proceed because of the 2023 verdict, which held Trump accountable for the claimed assault.
Trump attended the entire trial in order to give his testimony, and he made remarks on the case outside of court. Judge Kaplan chastised Trump on the first day of testimony for discussing the matter while Carroll was testifying.
Even after testifying, Trump was still able to invoke the Fifth Amendment if questioned about any instances in which he had given orders to hurt Carroll. He insisted that he hadn’t and that his only goals were to protect his family, the president, and himself.
In addition to giving the evidence, Trump discussed the matter with reporters in New York and at campaign events in Iowa and New Hampshire. He frequently framed it as election meddling, which is similar to how the case was initially handled.
How this legal dispute affects Trump’s political future as he pursues his presidential campaign is still to be seen.
