Donald Trump was found liable for both battery and defamation by a Manhattan federal jury in the E. Jean Carroll case, with an award of $5 million to Carroll. Carroll had accused Trump of sexually abusing her in a luxury department store dressing room in 1996, and defaming her by denying her claim and suggesting she fabricated the story to sell her book, which Trump denied. While the jury determined that Trump had sexually abused her, they did not find sufficient evidence to support her claim that he raped her.
As a result of the civil verdict, Trump is not facing any jail time. He chose not to testify in the trial or offer a defense, as is his right in a civil case. Trump has referred to the verdict as a “total disgrace.”
