A Manhattan jury in New York has ruled that former President Donald Trump is required to pay writer E. Jean Carroll a substantial $83 million for defaming her. This decision follows a previous civil court jury’s finding last year that held Trump liable for both defamation and sexual abuse.
Initially seeking $10 million in damages, Carroll, a former longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, had her attorney increase the claim to $24 million during closing arguments. The attorney argued that the former president should compensate his alleged abuse victim with at least that amount for defamation, emphasizing Trump’s primary concern for money.
The cases for Carroll and Trump concluded after closing arguments on Friday morning. Trump exited the courtroom shortly into Carroll’s attorney’s remarks but returned just over an hour late
Trump took the stand to defend himself for just three minutes on Thursday, marking the first time a jury heard directly from Trump, live in court in any of the current cases against him since he left the White House.
Trump was not required to be in court since the case is a civil one but vowed from the outset that he intended to “go to all days” of the trial.
Donald Trump was ordered Friday to pay $83.3 million in damages for defaming E. Jean Carroll, the advice columnist a prior jury had already found Trump sexually assaulted inside a department store fitting room.
The former president, 77, had already left court when the verdict was read.
The jurors five men and four women rendered their decision after just under three hours of deliberations.
Carroll’s side had been seeking at least $24 million in damages.
