Former President Donald J. Trump was ordered by a Manhattan jury on Friday to pay $83.3 million to author E. Jean Carroll for defaming him in 2019 after she accused him of decades-old rape, continuing the attacks in social media posts. Were kept. At news conferences and even in the middle of the trial.
Ms Carroll’s lawyers had argued that a larger award was necessary to deter Mr Trump from continuing to attack her. After deliberating less than three hours, the jury responded by awarding Ms. Carroll $65 million in punitive damages, finding that Mr. Trump had acted with malice. On one recent day, he made more than 40 derisive posts about Ms. Carroll on his Truth Social website.
On Friday, Mr. Trump had already left the courtroom for the day when Judge Lewis A. Kaplan convened the nine-member jury shortly after 4:30 p.m., warning lawyers, “We will not show any outrage. ” There was silence in the courtroom nine minutes after the verdict was announced.
In addition to the $65 million, jurors awarded Ms. Carroll $18.3 million in compensation for her suffering. As the dollar figures were read aloud, Mr. Trump’s lawyers slumped in their seats. The jury was dismissed and Ms. Carroll, 80, embraced her lawyers. A few minutes later, she walked out of the court hand in hand with her legal team and smiled at the cameras.
Ms Carroll thanked her lawyers in a statement, saying, “This is a huge victory for every woman who stood up when she was taken down and a huge defeat for every bully who tried to keep a woman down.” have tried.”
