Two other women testified that Trump tried to force himself on them. To buttress her testimony, two friends of Carroll testified that she told them about Trump's attack shortly after it happened. Carroll said she and the prominent real estate mogul chatted and flirted amiably before things turned violent, and he attacked her in a store dressing room.Ĭarroll said she stayed silent about the incident for years because she feared retribution from Trump and his powerful allies she eventually decided to write about Trump in a 2019 memoir. Trump's attorneys, meanwhile, argued that Carroll made up her story for financial gain and to attack the ex-president politically.ĭuring the course of the trial, Carroll testified for three days about her encounter with Trump at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996. "That sound you hear is Trump's polling numbers going up in the Republican primary," said Mike Madrid, an anti-Trump Republican political consultant. Some said it might help the ex-president with Republicans, given his constant and unfounded complaint that the Carroll lawsuit and other investigations are a Democratic plot to defeat him. No one knows for sure, as no major candidate found liable for sexual abuse has ever sought the presidency. We’ll obviously be appealing those other findings.” How will the verdict affect Trump politically?Ĭampaign operatives and political observers began assessing how the verdict might affect Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told reporters that he found the verdict "strange" because "this was a rape case all along and the jury rejected that, made other findings. ![]() Jurors also found that Trump's rhetorical attacks on Carroll in social media posts were "defamatory," "false," and made "with actual malice." The jury was also asked to determine if Trump's conduct was "willfully or wantonly negligent, reckless, or done with a conscious disregard of the rights of Ms. The jury checked "no" on the rape question. District Judge Lewis Kaplan asked jurors to decide whether the "preponderance of the evidence" shows that Trump "raped," "sexually abused," or "forcibly touched" Carroll. They had several alternative verdicts to consider. The jury was not asked to find Trump "guilty" or "not guilty," but whether he was liable for an attack on Carroll. This is a civil case, not a criminal one. This is not the first legal setback for Trump, who is under criminal indictment in New York City over a hush money case the former president remains under criminal investigation in at least three other cases, two of them involving efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The sexual abuse verdict comes as Trump remains the frontrunner for the Republican presidential campaign in 2024. Previously 19 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. "This verdict is a disgrace," the former president said in an all-caps post.Ĭarroll, a professional writer, had sued Trump for defamation, saying he lied about a 1996 sexual assault in a New York City department store and disparaged her character in doing so.Ī smiling Carroll did not stop to speak with reporters after the verdict. ![]() Trump told Fox News Digital he will appeal the verdict, and said on his Truth Social website that he still has "no idea" who Carroll is. The jury, which deliberated fewer than three hours, opted not to find Trump liable for rape but rather sexual abuse that injured Carroll. Jean Carroll in 1996 and said he should pay her $5 million in total damages, a verdict that could further complicate the former president's election bid in 2024. ![]() Hall and Anastasiia Riddle, USA TODAYĪ federal jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday in a civil case for sexual abuse and defamation of E.
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