This article has been updated since its initial publish date to include more info regarding E. Jean Carroll’s case against Donald Trump.
A jury on May 9th found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. She has been awarded with her total of nearly $5 million, as reported by CNN.
The jury awarded Carroll about $2 million in damages for her civil battery claim. They also included approximately $3 million for proving her defamation claim against the former president.
Carroll, to recap, sued Trump for battery. She alleged that his conduct was a sexual offense because it was “rape, sexual abuse or forcible touching,” as the outlet notes. While the jury did not find that she had successfully proven rape, they did find that Carroll proved Trump committed sexual abuse. This allowed her to receive damages for her battery claim.
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Judge Admonishes Donald Trump For Making ‘Inappropriate’ Public Statements Amid Defamation Trial: ‘Troubling’
Last month, the judge in the defamation case brought against Trump by Carroll admonished the twice-impeached former president for making “inappropriate” public statements amid the trial, calling the developments “troubling.”
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan presided over the lawsuit, a federal civil case in which Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in the dressing room of the Bergdorf-Goodman department store in the mid-90s. When New York recently gave residents the opportunity to sue over decades-past sexual abuse claims, the journalist was among the first to do so—and, as Trump has continued to publicly call Carroll a liar regarding the allegations, a defamation claim was also added to the lawsuit.
Judge: 'Stuff That Has No Business Being Spoken About'
The former president has not refrained from speaking openly about the lawsuit and E. Jean Carroll herself, which Judge Kaplan has called "troubling".
Trump posted on the social media site Truth Social in April calling the case a "made up scam" and that "This is a fraudulent & false story—Witch Hunt!" This was concerning to the judge, as, in his words, it is "entirely inappropriate" to be making such statements online in the midst of a trial. Said Kaplan to Trump's lawyers: "What seems to be the case is that your client is basically endeavoring, certainly, to speak to his quote-unquote public, but, more troubling, the jury in this case about stuff that has no business being spoken about." Kaplan also called Trump's social media post "a public statement that, on the face of it, seems entirely inappropriate."
In response, defending attorney Joe Tacopina countered that the jurors are directed to not engage with any news or online commentary about the case, and Trump would be notified to "refrain from any further posts about this case."
"I hope you're more successful," Kaplan responded, noting that the former The Apprentice host "may or may not be tampering with a new source of potential liability." Trump has previously publicly called Carroll's allegations a "scam", "lie", "complete con job", and a "hoax".
Two Trials, One Political Campaign
All of this comes in the midst of not only Trump's campaign for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, but also, an unrelated criminal indictment stemming from "hush money" payments made before the 2016 election to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who had claimed to have had a sexual liaison with the real estate tycoon.
Carroll's lawsuit seeks damages from Trump and an additional retraction of his allegedly defamatory statements. The writer first discussed the story publicly in her 2019 memoir, What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal. On trial Wednesday, Carroll took the stand and testified that "I'm here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn't happen. He lied and shattered my reputation, and I'm here to try and get my life back."
No criminal charges have been pursued in this case.
