A jury in New York on Friday ordered former President Donald Trump to pay a total of .3 million in damages to advice columnist E.Jean Carroll for defamation.
The Jury Awarded E. Jean Carroll A Million In Punitive Damages, A Million In Defamation, And An Additional .3 Million. Trump’s Reaction To The Verdict Is Almost Certain.
Even After The Penalty, The Decision Was Not Unexpected. Before The Trial Was Over, Judge Lewis Kaplan Ruled That Trump Wanted To Defame E. JEAN CARROLL. The Jury’s Job Was Only To Decide How Much Trump Owed Her If He Was Responsible. Pay JEAN CARROLL Is Ordered. A Year Ago, A Jury Set A New Example Of Defamation By Ordering Him To Pay A Million.
What’s At Stake In This Case E. JEAN CARROLL Vs Trump?
E. JEAN CARROLL, A Free-Lance Writer And Advice Columnist, Accused Trump Of Sexually Abusing Her In The 1990s In 2019. The Charge Was Initially Revealed In A New York Magazine Article And Was Covered In Full In Her Book. Following The Article’s Release, Trump Responded To Reporters With Two Responses, One Of Which Categorically Rejected Her Allegation And Labeled Her As “Not My Type.”
JEAN CARROLL Subsequently Filed A Defamation Lawsuit Against Trump, Claiming That His Remarks Damaged Her Credibility As A Reliable Journalistic Source And Provoked A Barrage Of Abuse And Menacing Letters, Comments, And Messages On Her Social Media Pages.
Bill Barr, Trump’s Attorney General At The Time, Halted The Case On The Grounds That Trump Had Made The Remarks While Serving As President. The Litigation Was Stalled In Court For A Number Of Years As A Result Of This.
In 2023, The Biden Justice Department Changed Its Mind And Permitted The First Defamation Lawsuit To Proceed. Judge Kaplan Determined That Trump Had Defamed JEAN CARROLL In 2019 And That The Former President Was Also Accountable, Partly Because To The 2023 Ruling That Had Found Trump Responsible For Assault.
According to her evidence,
E. JEAN CARROLL was the first person to testify, facing off against Trump, who was there for the trial’s first few days.
Trump calling Carroll a liar, JEAN CARROLL said in court, “ended the world I had been living in.”
She claimed that she no longer received hundreds of emails a month requesting guidance for her column, down from hundreds in the past.
Rather, she claimed to have received insults and threats. The jury was shown by Carroll’s attorney a number of emails, messages, and social media posts that Carroll received in the days that followed Trump’s remarks.
I filed a lawsuit to regain my reputation,” Carroll stated.
Alina Habba, Trump’s attorney, countered that Trump should not be held personally liable for the damages. Habba also showed the jury a number of social media posts, but they were made during the “gap” of five hours that occurred between the publication of Carroll’s charges and the remarks made by Trump that are the subject of Carroll’s lawsuit.
Habba questioned E. JEAN CARROLL’s motivation for suing and for removing threats that were sent to her email, while also highlighting the positive responses and support JEAN CARROLL received for her allegation.
Trump intensified his accusations that Carroll is dishonest.
Trump eventually took the witness stand in his defense on January 25, having vowed for weeks to do so. However, it lasted for just a few minutes.
He stated in his evidence that he “100%” agreed with his earlier deposition. When asked by his attorney if he had ever given orders to harm Carroll, Trump said that he had never done so and that his only goals were to protect his family, the presidency, and himself.
In addition to giving testimony, Trump attended the trial for a number of days and spoke out on the issue outside of court.
Judge Kaplan chastised him for remarks he made when Carroll was testifying on the opening day of the trial. E. JEAN CARROLL’s attorneys raised the possibility that the jurors might hear him as well, pointing out repeatedly that they could. Kaplan threatened to revoke Trump’s permission to attend.
In addition, Trump expressed his opinion that this trial is about election meddling to reporters in New York and at campaign events in Iowa and New Hampshire. He frequently reiterated allegations that were the subject of his lawsuit.