Jury Orders Trump to Pay E. Jean Carroll $83 Million for Defamation

A federal jury ordered Donald Trump to pay $83 million in damages for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, after a trial in which she accused him of shattering her reputation while he was president by denying her claims of sexual assault.

The jury of seven men and two women arrived at their verdict Friday after less than three hours of deliberation in Manhattan. A different federal jury last year awarded Carroll $5 million after finding Trump liable for sexually assaulting her in the 1990s and then defaming her when he denied it in 2022.

The new verdict covers statements Trump made during his White House tenure in which he said Carroll, an author and former Elle magazine columnist, fabricated the assault to generate publicity for her new book.

Her lawyers asked for about $12 million to repair her reputation, at least another $12 million for emotional distress, plus unusually high punitive damages intended to stop Trump’s ongoing derogatory comments about Carroll, which he has continued to voice on social media and in campaign appearances while the proceedings were ongoing.

The current trial, unlike the prior one, was marked by frequent appearances from Trump, who wasn’t required to attend but did so on most days, in what appeared to be a strategic choice to leverage his legal troubles to rally his supporters as he campaigns for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

When Carroll testified, Trump repeatedly shook his head and conferred with his attorney, prompting the writer’s lawyer to complain that his comments about a “con job” and “witch hunt” could be heard by the jury.

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