Trump Ordered to Pay Writer $83.3M
NEW YORK — A jury in the federal court in Manhattan has awarded $83.3 million in additional damages to the writer E. Jean Carroll, who claimed former President Donald Trump damaged her reputation by calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault at a Bergdorf Goodman department store.
The verdict was handed down in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse, on Pearl St., in New York, by a jury of seven men and two women.
It was the second time in nine months that a jury returned a verdict related to Carroll’s claim that what began as a flirtatious encounter at the 5th Avenue department store in 1996 ended in a violent sexual attack.
She said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her.
Carroll testified early in that trial that Trump’s public statements about her had led to death threats.
“He shattered my reputation,” she said. “I am here to get my reputation back and to stop him from telling lies about me.
“Previously, I was known simply as a journalist and had a column, and now I’m known as the liar, the fraud and the whack job,” Carroll added.
In May, a different jury awarded Carroll $5 million. It found Trump not liable for rape, but responsible for sexually assaulting Carroll and then defaming her by claiming she made it up.
Trump said the incident never happened and continues to claim he didn’t even know who she was before her claims about him became public.
He is currently appealing that award, but his continued commentary about the case on social media and on the campaign trail as he seeks reelection as president, got him in hot water again.
The trial that ended today was held solely to determine what additional damages Carroll was due, if any.
After the latest verdict was delivered, Trump called it “absolutely ridiculous.”
“Our legal system is out of control, and being used as a political weapon,” he said.
Trump did not attend his first trial, a decision he subsequently said he regretted. He attended this second trial on multiple occasions and took the stand — for a little more than three minutes — on Thursday.
After the judge limited what he could say, ruling he had missed his chance to argue that he was innocent, Trump abruptly left the court.
It has been reported by The Associated Press that he said, “This is not America,” as he did so.
Trump again stormed out of the courtroom on Friday, as Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, gave her closing argument.
Trump shook his head repeatedly as Kaplan spoke, then stood and quickly walked out of the courtroom, trailing his Secret Service agents behind him.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
