Trump was already convicted of sexual abuse and defamation last year. Now columnist E. Jean Carroll beats him again in court.
Court drawing made by columnist E. Jean Carroll on Friday at the trial in New York Photo: Elizabeth Williams
NEW YORK AFP | Former US President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay 83.3 million dollars (76.7 million euros) in the defamation trial of columnist E. Jean Carroll. The jury in the New York civil trial made its decision Friday after nearly three hours of deliberations, awarding Carroll damages significantly higher than the $10 million the author sought for defamatory statements.
Trump described the verdict as “absolutely ridiculous” on his Truth Social online network. The 77-year-old favorite for the Republican presidential nomination announced that he would appeal.
Carroll hailed the verdict as a “great victory for every woman who stands up when she has been pushed down, and a great defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down.”
Trump was ordered, among other things, to pay $7.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in so-called punitive damages. The jury concluded that Trump acted maliciously because he repeatedly denigrated Carroll over the years.
Carroll accuses Trump of rape
In a first trial last year, Trump was sentenced to $5 million in damages and compensation for sexual abuse and defamation of the journalist. Carroll had sued Trump twice, so there were two lawsuits.
The woman, now 80, accuses Trump of raping her in a dressing room at New York's luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in 1996. The longtime Elle magazine columnist first went public with her accusation in 2019, when Trump was president. The Republican then accused Carroll of lying and said she wasn't his “type.”
In the years that followed, the 77-year-old repeatedly accused Carroll of fabricating the sexual attack, including in a live conversation with a CNN Citizen in front of an audience of millions shortly after the first verdict in May 2023. He described Carroll as a “Crazy Person”. The author later updated her claim and demanded even higher compensation.
Trump considers himself victim of a witch hunt
Trump had attended the second defamation trial several times, which now ended with the $83 million verdict. The former president and promising presidential candidate testified in court Thursday. Trump was also present Friday, but stormed out of the courtroom.
The former president turns his problems with the judiciary into a campaign issue with four accusations and presents himself as the victim of a “witch hunt” by President Joe Biden's Democrats, who, in his words, want to prevent his return to office. the White House. . Even after Friday's verdict, Trump repeated this accusation.
However, his numerous judicial problems apparently have not harmed Trump politically: the right-wing populist is the big favorite in the race for the Republican presidential nomination and has clearly won the first two primaries in the states of Iowa and New Hampshire. The primary race is now a duel between Trump and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, but she is given almost no chance.