Jury finds Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in E. Jean Carroll case

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will appeal a Manhattan federal jury verdict that found he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996.

Trump maintained his claim that he does not know who Carroll is, and called the trial “very unfair.”

Carroll was awarded about $5 million for sexual battery and defamation, in a significant defeat for the former president.  

“Somehow we’re going to have to fight this stuff,” Trump said. “We cannot let our country go into this abyss. This is disgraceful.” 

Magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll arrives for the third day of her civil trial against former President Donald Trump at Manhattan Federal Court on April 27 in New York.

E. Jean Carroll has prevailed in her civil trial against Donald Trump with a federal jury finding the former president liable for battery and defamation and awarding the writer $5 million.

The panel in a Manhattan federal courtroom considered Carroll’s allegations that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman lingerie department dressing room in the spring of 1996, and then defamed her in a social media post last October. Trump has denied the allegations and called the verdict “a total disgrace” Tuesday.

Carroll filed the lawsuit last November under the “New York State Adult Survivors Act,” a state bill which opened a look-back window for sexual assault allegations like Carroll’s with long-expired statutes of limitation.

This is not a criminal trial. In a civil suit like Carroll’s, the jury had to determine whether Carroll’s legal team proved that Trump committed battery against Carroll by a preponderance of the evidence.

To prove her defamation claim, the jury had to find that Carroll’s legal team proved by the preponderance of the evidence that Trump knew it was false when he published the statement about Carroll last year and knowingly exposed her to public ridicule. They also had to determine that she proved by clear and convincing evidence that the statement was false, and that Trump made the statement with actual malice.

Both the preponderance of the evidence standard and the clear and convincing evidence standard are not as high a standard as proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which is used in criminal cases. Clear and convincing evidence is higher than preponderance of the evidence, which means more likely than not. Clear and convincing evidence leaves no substantial doubt in the juror’s mind and establishes that the proposition is highly probable.

The jury had to be unanimous to reach a verdict but could have reached a different verdict on each of the two claims — battery and defamation.

Very little personal information is public about the federal jury of six men and three women who found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Their identities were not divulged to Judge Lewis Kaplan, the attorneys or the public at any point in the process. They were instructed not to reveal any personally-specific information about themselves to further protect their identities.

After the verdict was read Tuesday, Kaplan informed the jurors that they are now allowed to identify themselves publicly if they choose — but he advised against it.

Kaplan suggested they not even reveal their own names to each other.

Here’s what we do know about them:

McCarthy and Mitch McConnell speak to the media after meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House on May 09.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wouldn’t say Tuesday if he’d still support former President Donald Trump after a New York jury found him liable for battery and defamation in a civil lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll. 

“You know what, I’ve been in this meeting — let me find out what happened,” McCarthy, who was leaving an Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling, told reporters at the White House.

In 2019, McCarthy told reporters he believed Trump’s account denying Carroll’s accusations. 

“I’ve never met her — I understand what the President [Trump] said, though I nothing more about the situation… I know the president said this is not true, I haven’t — don’t know anything else about it,” he told reporters at the time, adding, “Yes, I believe the President.”

Meantime, Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer described the verdict as a serious issue.

“I’d much rather have a president that doesn’t have that history, but at the same time, at some point, there’ll be a binary choice, and then we’ll make it,” Cramer said.

The North Dakota senator said that while the verdict is “not even disqualifying to the American people,” it does go to Trump’s electability.  

Sen. Mitt Romney, who has long been critical of the former president, said he hopes the verdict leads people to conclude he isn’t fit for office.

“The jury of his peers found him guilty of sexual assault and awarded $5 million to the person who was damaged. I hope the jury of the American people reach the same conclusion about Donald Trump,” the Utah senator said.

Rep. Don Bacon, a moderate Republican who represents a district President Joe Biden won, said Trump “got what he deserved.”

Bacon has already said he wouldn’t support Trump for president in 2024 and added that he thinks the former president is “too divisive” and would not win the White House.

A lawmaker who has endorsed Trump for president, Rep. Matt Gaetz, said he doesn’t think the verdict “is gonna make much of a difference,” in the election.  

Asked about some of his Republican colleagues saying they find it hard to see how they could support a presidential candidate who was found liable for battery and defamation, Gaetz said, “I don’t share that view.”

Senate Minority Whip John Thune said that he does not think the ruling will affect the Trump base, but may influence some swing voters.

But, Sen. John Cornyn said it’s difficult to assess the political fallout for Trump, in part, because so many voters have strongly defined positions about him.  

“People who love him will still support him and people who don’t, won’t. I just think it’s too early to tell what the effect will be if there will be any effect at all,” Cornyn said.

Several senators dismissed the New York legal system and questioned the jury.

Sen. Lindsey Graham simply told reporters, “I think the New York legal system is off the rails when it comes to Donald Trump.”

Former GOP presidential hopeful, Sen. Marco Rubio, said, “That jury is a joke, the whole case is a joke.”

Ohio freshman Sen. JD Vance, who is a strong supporter of the former president, said he was skeptical of the verdict from jurors in liberal New York City because it “seems obsessed with going after Donald Trump,” he said. 

CNN’s Nicky Robertson and Ted Barrett contributed reporting to this post.

E. Jean Carroll leaves a Manhattan court house after a jury found former President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990's on May 9 in New York City.

E. Jean Carroll called the outcome of her civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump a victory for her and other victims of abuse.

A jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll on Tuesday.

She also thanked her legal team and those who stood by her.

Her attorney Roberta Kaplan applauded Carroll’s determination and courage to speak out and seek justice. “No one is above the law, not even a former President of the United States,” Kaplan said.

“For far too long, survivors of sexual assault faced a wall of doubt and intimidation. We hope and believe today’s verdict will be an important step in tearing that wall down,” Kaplan said, adding, “This is a victory not only for E. Jean Carroll, but for democracy itself, and for all survivors everywhere.”

Joe Tacopina, attorney for former President Donald Trump, arrives for the third day of a civil trial against the former president at Manhattan Federal Court on April 27 in New York City.

Donald Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina called the jury’s decision in the civil trial Tuesday a “strange verdict,” noting that the jury rejected the rape claim against his client.  

While the jury found that Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in 1996, sufficient to hold him liable for battery, the jury did not find that Carroll proved he raped her. He does not face any jail time as a result of the civil verdict.

Tacopina, speaking outside the Manhattan courthouse, said that they would “obviously” be appealing the verdict.

Trump is “firm in his belief” that he cannot get a fair trial in New York City “based on the jury pool,” the attorney said. 

“I think one could argue that that’s probably an accurate assessment, based on what happened today,” Tacopina said.

He said there were many issues to for an appeal.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on April 27 in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The verdict in E. Jean Carroll’s case against Donald Trump has no legal effect on his 2024 presidential candidacy.

For one, it is a civil case, and during the 2016 campaign, Trump also faced all sorts of civil action, like the fraud cases concerning Trump University. Those were settled shortly after he was elected and had no bearing on the requirements for the presidency laid out in the Constitution.

Trump also faces unrelated criminal exposure, most prominently in the case that Manhattan prosecutors have brought against him for hush money payments to women claiming extramarital affairs with him.

There are also federal criminal investigations — one concerning the mishandling of documents from his White House and another into the efforts to disrupt Congress’ 2020 election certification — are also encircling him, as is an Atlanta-based probe into the election subversion plots.

Similarly, a successful criminal prosecution of the former president is unlikely to affect, at least from a legal standpoint, his ability to be reelected to the White House.

Notably, there is a precedent for convicted felons to run for federal office — including for the office of the presidency.

Eugene Debs, a perennial socialist candidate for the White House in the early 20th century, was incarcerated on an espionage conviction when he won more than 900,000 votes in a 1920 presidential campaign.

The jury in the E. Jean Carroll civil case against Donald Trump had been instructed that a person is liable for sexual abuse when he subjects another person to sexual contact without her consent. 

Under New York law, “sexual contact” means “any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person for the purpose of gratifying the sexual desire of either party.” 

The state’s law says that a person is liable for rape when a person forces sexual intercourse with another person without their consent. For the purposes of this law, “sexual intercourse” means “any penetration, however slight, of the penis into the vaginal opening.” 

Both sexual abuse and rape are sexual offenses in New York.  

While the jury did not find that Carroll had proven rape, they did find that she proved Trump committed sexual abuse, allowing her to receive damages for her civil battery claim. 

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York on April 3.

Former President Donald Trump called the jury’s verdict a “total disgrace” and said it was a “continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time,” in a post on Truth Social. 

He continued to claim he did not know who E. Jean Carroll was in the post.

His spokesman Steven Cheung echoed Trump in a statement calling the case “bogus.”

E. Jean Carroll walks out of Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, May 9, in New York. 

Former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll was holding attorney Shawn Crowley’s hand as the verdict was read in the Manhattan federal court, according to CNN correspondent Kara Scannell, who was in the courtroom at the time.

She said the writer “had a sense of relief,” appeared to rock forward and that a smile came across her face.

A jury on Tuesday found former president Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll and awarded her a total of about $5 million.

Ahead of the verdict’s reading, Judge Lewis Kaplan asked those in the courtroom to have decorum and avoid verbal and physical reactions, which attendees abided by, Scannell said.

Once the jury was escorted out and the verdict was read, Carroll hugged her lead attorney Roberta Kaplan, according to Scannell. Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina made his way to the plaintiff’s table and shook Carroll and her attorney’s hands, she said.

Before dismissing the jury, Judge Lewis Kaplan informed them that they are now allowed to identify themselves publicly, if they choose — but he advised them not to.

“If you’re one who elects to speak to others and to identify yourselves to others, I direct you not to identify anyone else who sat on this jury,” Kaplan added. “Each of you owes that to the other whatever you decided for yourself.”

Former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll walks into Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, April 25, in New York.  

A jury Tuesday found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, awarding the writer a total of about $5 million in a significant defeat for the former president.  

The jury awarded Carroll about $2 million in damages for her civil battery claim and nearly $3 million for successfully proving her defamation claim against Trump.

Carroll sued Trump for battery, alleging his conduct qualified as a sexual offense because it was rape, sexual abuse or forcible touching. While the jury did not find that she had proven rape, they did find she proved Trump committed sexual abuse, allowing her to receive damages for her battery claim. 

Under New York Adult Survivors Act, passed in May 2022, survivors of sexual offenses are able to file a civil lawsuit against a perpetrator for damages even if the statutory window of time to bring a claim has expired, as long as they can also show the offense qualifies as a sex crime under the law. 

After the verdict was read, Carroll exited the courthouse smiling and holding hands with her attorneys. She made no comment to the media who shouted questions in her direction.

Her attorney Roberta Kaplan spoke briefly, saying: “We’re very happy.”

Former President Donald Trump arrives for an event at his Mar-a-Lago home on November 15, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. 

A jury in Manhattan federal court found Donald Trump liable for defamation in a civil lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.  

Trump should pay nearly $3 million in damages to Carroll for successfully proving her defamation claim against him, the jury found. 

It also found that Trump should pay about $2 million in damages for her civil battery claim, bringing the total to $5 million.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a Save America Rally to support Republican candidates running for state and federal offices in the state at the Covelli Centre on September 17, 2022 in Youngstown, Ohio.

A jury in Manhattan federal court found that Donald Trump should pay about $2 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll for her civil battery claim. 

Trump may have to pay more in damages if the jury finds that he also defamed Carroll. Defamation is the second claim in Carroll’s lawsuit against Trump.  

The verdict continues to be read in court. 

Former President Donald Trump speaks to guests at the 2023 NRA-ILA Leadership Forum on April 14 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

A Manhattan federal jury found that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996.

The jury found him liable for battery in Carroll’s civil trial against him, based on that sexual assault claim.

Carroll also sued Trump for defamation related to a 2022 statement he made denying Carroll’s allegations.

The verdict, including any damages, continues to be read in court.

Former president Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll.

A federal jury in Manhattan has reached a verdict in the civil battery and defamation trial of Donald Trump brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. 

The jury of six men and three women deliberated for just over two and a half hours.

The verdict is expected to be read at 3 p.m. ET.

In this courtroom sketch, Judge Lewis Kaplan reads the jury instructions prior to their deliberations in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9.

Plaintiff attorney Roberta Kaplan brought former President Donald Trump’s latest TruthSocial post to Judge Lewis Kaplan’s attention and asked if the jury does not reach a verdict by the end of the day, that he instruct them that Trump had every opportunity to testify and present a defense.  

Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said the post does not require a jury instruction and that he had posts made by Donald and Eric Trump earlier in the trial deleted.

The judge sided with Tacopina and said he would not instruct the jury.

“We’re dealing here with what we’re dealing with…and I have no further comment,” Judge Kaplan said.

The parties left the courtroom for a lunch break until about 1:45 when they are expected to return to the courtroom.

A sketch from the the civil battery and defamation trial for columnist E. Jean Carroll against former President Donald Trump.

Columnist E. Jean Carroll testified for more than two full trial days during her case, recounting her story, how life has been since going public with her accusations and undergoing several hours of cross examination.

Two friends that Carroll testified she told soon after the alleged rape testified about their recollection of Carroll’s account in 1996. Journalist Lisa Birnbach testified to corroborate Carroll’s story that she called her minutes after she left the department store after she was allegedly raped.

Former local New York anchor Carol Martin also testified that Carroll, who had a show at the same cable news network at the time, also confided in her within days after the alleged incident. Birnbach and Martin, who were not initially named in Carroll’s book, publicly came forward in support of their friend soon after Carroll published her account in New York magazine.

Trump’s legal team has accused the two of conspiring with Carroll to fabricate this story to bring down Trump. All three have spoken publicly and in private messages shown to the jury about their hatred for the former president.

Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, who allege Trump physically forced himself on them, also testified about their alleged altercations.

At closing Carroll’s attorney argued that allegations from Carroll, Leeds and Stoynoff reveal a pattern of Trump’s aggressive behavior.

In each woman’s testimony, they described how Trump first engaged them in a semipublic place, then allegedly grabbed them suddenly, then later denied the allegations and said “she is too ugly for anyone to assault,” attorney Roberta Kaplan said.

“Three different women, decades apart, but one single pattern of behavior. What happened to Ms. Carroll is not unique in that respect. Trump’s physical attacks and verbal attacks are his standard operational procedure,” Kaplan said.

Trump has denied Leeds’ and Stoynoff’s allegations against him. Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told the jurors Monday that their testimony was a distraction at trial because their claims are not before this jury and don’t affect Carroll’s allegations.

Tacopina in his closing argument Monday also accused Carroll of fabricating her rape allegations to sell her book.