Former US President Donald Trump was ordered by a US jury on Friday to pay $83.3 million (€76.7 million) in damages for defaming author E. Jean Carroll.
The author has charged that Trump’s denial in 2019 that he sexually assaulted her some thirty years prior has damaged her credibility as a reliable journalist.
On Friday, the jury heard the case’s closing arguments. For slandering Carroll and denying that he had sexually assaulted her, Carroll’s attorney had urged Trump to make a “dearly” payment.
$18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages made up the mandated amount.
Trump said he will fight the Carroll defamation lawsuit rulings in a tweet on his social media site Truth. The Friday verdict, in his words, was “ridiculous.”
The session on Friday lasted for less than three hours.
The former president claimed he still didn’t know Carroll’s identity during the trial, muttering that the case was a “con job” and “witch hunt.” He was urged to remain silent by the judge twice.
During Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan’s closing argument, Trump departed the courtroom. Then he came back for the defense of his own attorney.
