Expert says $12M to fix the harm to Carroll
Testifies amount based on Trump’s statements
NEW YORK – After a day of fireworks that saw Donald Trump threatened with expulsion from the courtroom, an expert for advice columnist E. Jean Carroll testified that the price to repair the harm caused by Trump for defaming her could be as high as $12.1 million – not including any punitive damages.
The $12.1 million figure was the high end of estimated ranges Northwestern University professor Ashlee Humphreys testified to on Thursday based on the impact of two statements Trump made in 2019 denying that he had sexually assaulted Carroll nearly three decades ago.
Humphreys said she analyzed the number of readers and viewers who encountered Trump’s statements through various news outlets, and the cost of a campaign to repair the reputational damage to Carroll.
Trump, who attended jury selection on the first day of the trial and the full second day of proceedings, was in Florida on Thursday for the funeral of his mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs.
Carroll has accused Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. A civil jury in May ruled Trump was liable for sexual abuse over the incident, although it didn’t find him liable for rape. It also ruled he defamed Carroll in 2022 when he called her accusation a “con job,” and awarded her a combined $5 million.
The current trial focuses on two lengthy denials Trump made after Carroll went public with her story in 2019, including his statement that “people should pay dearly for such false accusations.”
Carroll’s legal team has argued Trump unleashed his millions of followers on their client, and it’s now Trump’s turn to “pay dearly.”
On Wednesday, Carroll testified that she may have deleted some of the threatening messages she received after filing her lawsuit against Trump, saying she “didn’t know how to handle death threats” and wanted them out of her mind.
Trump attorney Alina Habba said that was grounds for a mistrial. “The witness just admitted to deleting emails,” Habba told Judge Lewis Kaplan.
Kaplan swiftly denied the request. Trump can’t claim in the current trial that he didn’t assault Carroll given the May verdict; he can only fight Carroll’s claims for damages over the 2019 statements, Kaplan ruled earlier.
But Trump has continued to trash Carroll’s accusation.
According to one of her lawyers, Trump could be heard Wednesday within earshot of jurors denigrating Carroll’s claims as a “witch hunt” and “con job” from the defense table, even as she testified.
Kaplan warned that Trump could forfeit his right to be in the courtroom through disruptive behavior, adding that the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner was probably “very eager” to be kicked out. “I would love it,” Trump shot back.
Trump campaigned in New Hampshire Wednesday evening and said Thursday morning he had arrived in Florida to attend the funeral of Melania Trump’s mother. Kaplan has denied multiple requests from Trump’s legal team to cancel Thursday’s trial proceedings, although he said Trump may testify on Monday even if his defense team is otherwise finished on Thursday.