NEW YORK – ABC News says a jury has found former President Donald Trump liable for battery and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll case after just under three hours of deliberations. She filed the lawsuit in November, alleging that Trump defamed her in his 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!” when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.
The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a recently-adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.
ABC says jury members found that Trump did not rape Carroll but did sexually abuse her. They awarded damages of $2 million in compensatory damages and $20,000 in punitive damages for battery; $1 million in damages; $1.7 million for reputation repair; and $280,000 in punitive damages, for defamation.
Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by approximately two dozen women and has denied all such claims, ABC says. Carroll’s battery allegation was the first to make it before a jury.
Following the verdict, Trump called it a disgrace, according to ABC.
“I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS,” he posted to his Truth Social platform. “THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”
Carroll was seated between two of her attorneys, Roberta Kaplan and Shawn Crowley, as the verdict was read. At one point Crowley put her arm around Carroll, who held hands with Kaplan.
For more, visit ABC News HERE.
