A civil jury in New York City on Tuesday found former U.S. President Donald Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing and defaming—but not raping—journalist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, and awarded her $5 million in damages.
The jury awarded Carroll $2 million in compensatory damages and $20,000 in punitive damages for sexual battery, and $1 million in compensatory damages, $1.7 million for reputational repair, and $280,000 in punitive damages for defamation.
Tuesday’s verdict comes just over a month after Trump—a 2024 Republican presidential candidate—pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts involving alleged multiple hush money payments during the 2016 election in bids to cover up sex scandals, including $130,000 given to porn star Stormy Daniels and $30,000 payment to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child Trump had out of wedlock.
Trump—who did not appear at the trial—during a deposition described Carroll’s allegations as “a hoax and a lie just like all the other hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years.”
Trial attorney Lisa Bloom called on the New York Legislature to “extend the CRIMINAL statute of limitations for sex crimes so Trump can be criminally prosecuted for the sexual abuse that this civil jury found Trump committed.”