A New York jury has found former president Donald Trump liable of sexually abusing and defaming magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. However, the jury also found that Trump did not commit rape, and he was ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in damages.
A person is liable for sexual abuse when they subject another person to sexual contact without their consent. Under New York Adult Survivors Act, survivors of sexual offenses can file a civil lawsuit against a perpetrator for damages even if the statutory window to bring a claim has expired.
Carroll, 79, told the jury that Trump raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996. The department store was located across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan. She says she ran into the Republican presidential candidate, where Trump informed her he was gift shopping for “a girl” and asked her for advice. Caroll says that after agreeing to help, Trump shoved her into a dressing room and assaulted her.
“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” Carroll testified. “He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back.”
Trump did not attend the court to hear the verdict. Instead, following the outcome, he took to social media to express his outrage.
“I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The verdict comes the same day former Representative Liz Cheney ran an ad attacking Trump’s fitness for office on Tuesday in the key state of New Hampshire.
“Donald Trump is a risk America can never take again,” Cheney said in the 60-second ad funded by her political organization, Great Task PAC. “Donald Trump is the only president in American history who has refused to guarantee the peaceful transfer of power … There has never been a greater dereliction of duty by any president,” she went on, adding that he is “unfit” for office.
Cheney vowed to fight tooth and nail to keep Trump out of the White House.
“This fight is not over — it may take many years,” Cheney said. “For anyone wondering about my own future, let me say this: I will do everything in my power to make sure Donald Trump is never again near the Oval Office.”
