Topline
Former President Donald Trump called a Manhattan jury’s determination that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll a “disgrace” and repeated his claim that he has “absolutely no idea who this woman is” in a Truth Social post Tuesday, minutes after the jury reached a verdict.
Writer E. Jean Carroll leaves a Manhattan court house after a jury found former President Donald … [+]
Key Facts
Trump said the verdict was “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time,” a term he has repeatedly used to refer to the various law enforcement investigations against him.
The Manhattan jury, after just three hours of deliberation in the civil case, determined Tuesday that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a department store in the 1990s and owes her $5 million—$2 million in damages for the abuse and about $3 million for defaming Carroll by denying the encounter.
The jury rejected Carroll’s claim that Trump raped her, however.
Earlier in the day, Trump falsely claimed he was silenced in the case and “not allowed to speak or defend” himself, vowing on Truth Social to “appeal the Unconstitutional silencing . . . no matter the outcome,” even though he declined to testify during the two-week trial.
Trump was particularly active on Truth Social Tuesday as the jury deliberated in the Carroll case, posting more than a dozen times in rants about President Joe Biden’s border policies, election fraud and against his frequent targets, including former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R), News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch, his former Attorney General Bill Barr and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Key Background
Carroll, a former Elle advice columnist, alleged in an excerpt from her memoir published in 2019 that Trump attacked her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan in the mid-1990s. She sued Trump in 2022 for damages in the attack and Trump’s denial of the events after a change in New York state law allowed survivors of sexual assault to file legal actions at any point after the incident occurred. Trump and his legal team have denied the accusations and claimed Trump never mer Carroll—despite her team producing a photo of the two of them together, which he claimed was actually an image of him with his ex-wife, Marla Maples. Two women testified during the trial that Carroll told them about the assault immediately after it happened. Trump and his legal team claimed they were in collusion to ruin Trump’s political aspirations and sell Carroll’s memoir.
Tangent
The Carroll verdict is the latest legal blow to Trump, who pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan Criminal Court last month in connection to a hush-money payment he allegedly orchestrated to cover up allegations of an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels. His Trump Organization was also found guilty of a range of tax fraud violations in January after a Manhattan judge determined the company paid executives with gifts in order to evade taxes. Separately, the New York Attorney General’s office sued the Trump Organization in September, alleging it fraudulently inflated the value of his assets in a bid to secure more favorable loans. The Justice Department also has two ongoing probes into Trump regarding his role in the January 6 Capitol riots and his handling of classified documents after leaving office. And the Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney’s office is investigating whether Trump played a role in efforts to overturn election results in the state. Trump has cast the investigations as politically motivated “witch hunts”—a narrative GOP lawmakers, including DeSantis, have echoed and one that appears to be swaying voters, as he leads both DeSantis and Biden in hypothetical 2024 matchups, according to recent polls.
Surprising Fact
Melania Trump offered her first public statement of support for Trump’s 2024 campaign on Tuesday in an aptly timed, soft-ball interview with Fox and Friends hours before the jury delivered its verdict. Melania told interviewer Pete Hegseth Trump “has [her] support” and that serving as first lady again would be a “privilege.” Hegseth did not ask about any of the law enforcement investigations into her husband.
Further Reading
E. Jean Carroll Testifies: ‘Donald Trump Raped Me’ (Forbes)
Melania Finally Backs Trump’s Reelection Bid In First Interview Since Campaign Launch—But Doesn’t Mention Legal Issues (Forbes)
Trump Pleads Not Guilty To 34 Counts Of Falsifying Business Records (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/05/09/trump-calls-e-jean-carroll-verdict-a-disgrace-after-jury-finds-he-sexually-abused-her/