NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Former President Donald Trump was found liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, with a Manhattan jury ordering him to pay her $5 million in damages.
The verdict was announced in a federal courtroom on the first day of jury deliberations. Jurors rejected Carroll's claims that she was raped but found Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her by calling her claims a "hoax" and "a con job."
Trump chose not to attend the civil trial and was absent when the verdict was read.
Carroll, 79, nodded as the verdict was read. Afterward, her lawyers put their arms around her, and she hugged supporters in the gallery, smiling through tears.
Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, shook hands with Carroll and hugged her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan. As the courtroom cleared, Carroll could be heard laughing and crying.
The trial's outcome was a validation for Carroll, one of more than a dozen women who accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. She went public in 2019 with her allegation that the Republican raped her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue in the mid-1990s.
Trump, 76, denied it, saying he never encountered Carroll at the store and didn’t know her. He has called her a "nut job" who invented "a fraudulent and false story" to sell a memoir.
In a message posted to his Truth Social account after the verdict was announced, Trump said, "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!"
A spokesperson for Trump's 2024 presidential campaign issued a lengthy statement saying that "the Democratic Party's never-ending witch-hunt of President Trump hit a new low today" and that the verdict will be appealed.
"Make no mistake, this entire bogus case is a political endeavor targeting President Trump because he is now an overwhelming frontrunner to be once again elected President of the United States," the spokesperson said.
"Sadly, for the enemies of American freedom and democracy, President Trump will never stop fighting for the American people, no matter what the radical Democrats dream up next," the spokesperson added. "This case will be appealed, and we will ultimately win."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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