New Delhi: Former US President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay $83.3 million to American columnist E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of rape.
The five-day trial played out in a Manhattan federal court and on Saturday, the jury ruled in Caroll’s favour and backed her claim for damages. In a defamation case, damages refer to the losses suffered by a plaintiff as a result of harm caused by the defendant.
In the case between Trump and Caroll, the jury awarded her an initial $65 million in damages, and then an additional $18.3 million in compensatory damages.
Caroll was a former columnist for Elle magazine. In 2019, she wrote an op-ed for New York Magazine in which she first accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a dressing room of a clothing department store in the 1990s. This was one of six incidents Carroll cited in the article of attacks she faced by men throughout her life.
Sarah Jones from the Intelligencer points out that by the time of his alleged assault on Carroll — 1995 or early 1996 — Trump’s ex-wife, Ivana, “had already claimed that Trump violated her during their marriage.”
Ivana made the claim during their divorce litigation but later withdrew it after Trump launched his presidential campaign ahead of the 2016 elections.
Trump plans to appeal
Following the jury’s decision, Caroll was quoted by local media reports as saying in a statement: “This is a great victory for every woman who stands up when she’s been knocked down, and a huge defeat for every bully that has tried to keep a woman down,” Caroll was quoted by local media reports.
Trump, meanwhile, criticised the US legal system on his own social media site called Truth Social.
“I fully disagree with both verdicts,” he wrote. “Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”
The former president and real-estate tycoon plans to appeal against the decision.
As the 2024 US Presidential elections near, Trump is leading in the race for the Republican nomination, ahead of others like Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden.
Trump has been at the centre of a slew of legal battles. Last August, he was indicted for allegedly playing a role in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state of Georgia. Last April, he was charged with business fraud over hush-money payouts to ex-adult actress Stormy Daniels. In 2021, he was impeached following the 6 January US Capitol attack, making him the first US president in history to be impeached two times.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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