Trump is ordered to pay $83m in libel damages
A JURY in the US has awarded a huge $83.3million in additional damages to advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who says former American president Donald Trump damaged her reputation by calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault.
The verdict was delivered by a seven-man, two-woman jury yesterday in a trial regularly attended by Mr Trump, who abruptly left the courtroom during closing arguments by Ms Carroll’s lawyer, only to later return.
Ms Carroll smiled as the verdict was read. By then, Mr Trump had left the building in his motorcade. ‘Absolutely ridiculous!’ he said in a statement shortly after the verdict was announced. He vowed to appeal, writing: ‘Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon.’
It is the second time in nine months that a jury returned a verdict related to Ms Carroll’s claim that a flirtatious, chance encounter with Mr Trump in 1996 at a department store ended violently. She said Mr Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her.
In May, a different jury awarded Ms Carroll $5million. It found Mr Trump not liable for rape, but responsible for sexually abusing Ms Carroll and then defaming her by claiming she made it up. He is appealing that award. Ms Carroll testified in the trial that Mr Trump’s public statements had led to death threats. The trial reached its conclusion as Mr Trump marches toward winning the Republican presidential nomination a third time.
He has sought to turn his various trials and legal vulnerabilities into an advantage, portraying them as evidence of a weaponised political system.