A federal jury in New York ruled on Friday that former President Donald Trump owes advice columnist E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages for defamatory comments he made while contesting her rape allegations in 2019. Carroll, who previously alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store in the 1990s, now claims that Trump’s defense against those charges ruined her reputation as a credible journalist and subjected her to threats and harassment.
The jury in a separate federal case centered on those allegations last year found Trump not guilty of the rape charges but held him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The former president was ordered to pay $5 million to settle that case.
The follow-up defamation case was brought against Trump in November 2019 over his claims that he had never even heard of Carroll and that her allegations were made up to help sell her memoir. Other comments from Trump insisted that Carroll’s story made no sense because she “wasn’t his type.”
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At various times since the initial allegations, Trump has recirculated old Twitter posts from Carroll, including one in which the columnist muses “How do you know your ‘unwanted sexual advance’ is unwanted, until you advance it?”
According to Carroll’s defense team, these posts allowed Trump supporters to engage in a harassment campaign against her, causing her to fear for her life and “shattering” her journalist reputation. These social media posts were not admitted as evidence in the case.
Despite Carroll’s own history of odd statements and eccentric behavior, the jury in the second case (seven men, two women) took less than three hours to find Trump liable for defamation once again. According to the final ruling, Trump owes Carroll $11 million to repair the damage to her reputation, $7.3 million for emotional harm, and another $65 million in punitive damages.
The sum total of damages—$83.3 million—is more than three times the amount Carroll’s legal team asked for in its closing argument and 10 times more than Carroll asked for in the initial lawsuit.
Related: Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll is Financed by Epstein Associate Reid Hoffman
Former President Trump immediately vowed to appeal the decision and denounced it as further political persecution against him by the establishment.
“Absolutely ridiculous!” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a political weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”
The ruling capped off a chaotic final day in court, during which US District Judge Lewis Kaplan also threatened to jail Trump attorney Alina Habba after she argued with him over submitting last-minute evidence.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X (Twitter) and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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