A jury held Donald Trump accountable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could follow the former president as he campaigns for re-election.
The jury returned a split verdict, rejecting Carroll’s claim that she was raped and holding Trump accountable for a lower degree of sexual abuse. The ruling adds to Trump’s legal difficulties while also vindicating Carroll, whose charges Trump had insulted and rejected for years, according to UNB.
She nodded when the decision was read aloud in a federal courtroom in New York City only three hours after deliberations began, then hugged supporters and smiled through tears. Carroll could be heard laughing and crying as the courtroom cleared.
Jurors also judged Trump guilty of defaming Carroll because of her allegations. Trump did not appear at the civil trial and was not there when the judgement was read aloud.
Trump instantly took on Twitter, saying that he does not know Carroll and calling the verdict “a disgrace” and “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.” He promised to file an appeal.
Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, shook hands with Carroll and hugged her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, after the verdict was announced. Outside the courthouse, he told reporters the jury’s rejection of the rape claim while finding Trump responsible for sexual abuse was “perplexing” and “strange.”
“Part of me was obviously very happy that Donald Trump was not branded a rapist,” he said.
He defended Trump’s absence, citing the trial’s “circus atmosphere.” He said having Trump there “would be more of a circus.”
Tacopina added: “What more can you say other than ‘I didn’t do it’?”
In a written statement, Kaplan said the verdict proved nobody is above the law, “not even the president of the United States.”
