Jury finds Trump liable for sexual abuse, awards accuser $5M
NEW YORK — A jury funds Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former US president as he campaigns to regain the White House.
The verdict is announced in a federal courtroom in New York City on the first day of jury deliberations. Jurors reject Carroll’s claims that she was raped, but find Trump liable for sexually abusing her.
Hours earlier, US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan read instructions on the law to the nine-person jury before the panel began discussing Carroll’s allegations of battery and defamation shortly before noon.
Trump, who did not attend the trial, has insisted he never sexually assaulted Carroll or even knew her.