Trump sexually abused writer
Finds a NY jury, orders him to pay her $5m in damages; ex-president rejects the verdict as a ‘disgrace’
A New York jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing and defaming an American former magazine columnist and ordered the ex-president to pay her $5 million in damages.
The nine jurors rejected E. Jean Carroll's accusation of rape but unanimously upheld her other complaints in the closely watched civil trial, following less than three hours of deliberations.
It marks the first time Trump has faced legal consequences over a string of sexual assault allegations dating back decades -- and the former leader immediately rejected the verdict as a "disgrace."
Carroll, 79, sued Trump last year, alleging that he raped her in the changing room of the luxury Bergdorf Goodman store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in 1996.
The former columnist for Elle magazine also claimed that Trump defamed her when he called her "a complete con job" after she went public with the allegation in 2019.
Trump, the 76-year-old frontrunner for the Republican nomination in next year's presidential election, called her case a "hoax" and "a lie."
The jury determined that Carroll had proved sexual abuse -- effectively sexual contact without consent -- by a preponderance of the evidence and awarded her $2 million.
The six men and three women on the jury also said Trump should pay Carroll nearly $3 million for defamation.
Following the verdict, Carroll left the federal court smiling but did not speak to reporters.
Trump slammed the outcome on his social media platform Truth Social. "I have absolutely no idea who this woman is," he wrote, using all capital letters. "This verdict is a disgrace -- a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time."