Trump Found Civilly Liable for Sexual Abuse and Defamation of E. Jean Carroll

Details

On May 9, 2023, a federal jury in Manhattan found Donald Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defaming her when he denied her allegations in 2022. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in total damages. A separate jury on January 26, 2024, awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages for Trump's continued defamatory statements made while he was president in 2019 and after the initial verdict. Both verdicts were upheld on appeal, and on June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court declined to review the $5 million verdict, making that judgment final. Trump paid what he owed on that judgment—$5.625 million with accrued interest—in mid-July 2026.

The Allegations

According to Carroll's testimony, the incident occurred in spring 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. Carroll, then an advice columnist for Elle magazine, alleged that what began as a friendly encounter with Trump turned violent when they entered a dressing room. She testified that Trump pushed her against a wall and sexually assaulted her. Carroll stated she told two friends about the attack shortly after it occurred but did not report it to police, fearing she would not be believed and that Trump would "bury" her.

Carroll first publicly disclosed the allegation in a June 2019 New York magazine article titled "Hideous Men," which was an excerpt from her memoir. Trump immediately denied the allegation, stating he had never met Carroll (despite a 1987 photograph showing them together), that she was "not my type," and that she fabricated the story to sell her book.

Legal Proceedings

First Case (Carroll II) - Battery and Defamation:
Carroll filed suit in November 2022 under New York's Adult Survivors Act, a law that opened a temporary window for sexual assault survivors to file civil suits beyond expired statutes of limitations. The case went to trial in April 2023.

Evidence presented included:
- Carroll's own testimony describing the assault
- Testimony from two friends who said Carroll had confided in them shortly after the alleged incident
- Testimony from two other women, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, who alleged Trump sexually assaulted them in separate incidents (to establish a pattern of behavior)
- The Access Hollywood tape from 2005, in which Trump was recorded saying he grabs and kisses women without consent
- Trump's October 2022 deposition testimony
- A 1987 photograph showing Trump and Carroll together at a party

Trump did not testify at the trial and called no witnesses in his defense. His attorney attempted to discredit Carroll's testimony on cross-examination, arguing she had fabricated the allegations for financial and political reasons.

Verdict:
After deliberating for less than three hours, the nine-person jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The jury was asked to consider three possible levels of battery under New York law: rape (defined narrowly under state law as forcible penile penetration), sexual abuse, or forcible touching. The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse but not rape under New York's narrow legal definition. However, Judge Lewis Kaplan later clarified that "the definition of rape in the New York Penal Law is far narrower than the meaning of 'rape' in common modern parlance" and that the jury had indeed found Trump raped Carroll according to the common understanding of the term.

The jury awarded Carroll:
- $2 million in compensatory damages for sexual abuse
- $20,000 in punitive damages for sexual abuse
- Nearly $3 million for defamation

Second Case (Carroll I) - Additional Defamation:
The second trial in January 2024 focused solely on damages for Trump's defamatory statements made in June 2019 when he was president. Judge Kaplan had already ruled in September 2023 via partial summary judgment that Trump was liable for defamation through his 2019 statements, finding that the May 2023 jury verdict established the statements were false.

Trump briefly testified at this trial but was restricted by the judge from relitigating the sexual abuse finding. The jury heard evidence of death and rape threats Carroll received after Trump's statements, and testimony about the psychological harm and reputational damage she suffered.

The jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages:
- $18.3 million in compensatory damages
- $65 million in punitive damages

Appeals

Trump appealed both verdicts. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the $5 million verdict on December 30, 2024, rejecting Trump's arguments that Judge Kaplan had made errors by allowing testimony from Leeds and Stoynoff and admitting the Access Hollywood tape as evidence. The court found these evidentiary rulings were permissible under Federal Rules of Evidence 413 and 415, which allow evidence of other sexual assaults in civil cases involving sexual assault claims.

The Second Circuit upheld the $83.3 million verdict on September 8, 2025, finding the damages award "reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts of this case." The court rejected Trump's claims of presidential immunity, among other arguments.

Trump requested an en banc hearing (before the full appeals court) in January 2025, which was denied on June 13, 2025. On November 10, 2025, Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the $5 million verdict, arguing that Judge Kaplan made "indefensible evidentiary rulings" by allowing "highly inflammatory propensity evidence"—the Access Hollywood tape and the testimony of the two other women who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago.

Supreme Court Denial and Final Judgment

On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court declined to take up the case, leaving the $5 million verdict in place and exhausting Trump's avenues of appeal in the case. The justices rejected the petition in a brief, unexplained order with no noted dissents, as is typical for a cert denial. As NBC News noted, the denial came the same day the Court issued rulings in two other Trump-related cases, Trump v. Cook and Trump v. Slaughter.

Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan said the ruling meant "his multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed" and "ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions." Carroll's legal team said it was now "time for him to pay" the judgment, which has been accruing post-judgment interest since 2023, with funds held in escrow pending the appeals. Trump called the decision "surprising" in a social media post, wrote that "this Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for," and said he would continue to fight the defamation claims.

On July 8, 2026, a federal appeals court rejected Trump's bid to further delay paying the $5 million judgment, clearing the way for Carroll to collect. Separately that same day, Carroll having asked him to act once the Supreme Court denied review, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan—who presided over the trial—ordered the escrowed funds released, writing that "defendant has been stalling this case for years" and that it was time for Trump to "pay the judgment."

Trump then paid. The New York Times reported that, according to a note added on July 14, 2026, to the online court docket, Carroll had received a $5.625 million payment—the jury's $5 million award plus interest that had accrued since 2023—the previous week. Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement that she and her client were "pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict." The White House press office referred comment to Trump's personal lawyers; a spokesman for that team, Aaron Harison, said in a statement that "the American people stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the witch hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll hoaxes."

The denial resolves only the $5 million case. Trump's separate challenge to the $83.3 million defamation verdict, along with the Justice Department's bid to substitute the United States as defendant in his place, remained pending (see the May 5, 2026 entry). That maneuver is unaffected by the cert denial, though the denial leaves undisturbed the underlying liability finding on which the $83.3 million case builds.

Impact and Context

The verdicts represent the only time a court has found Trump liable for sexual misconduct. According to reporting on Trump's sexual misconduct allegations, at least 25 women have accused Trump of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment since the 1970s, but Carroll is the only person whose allegation has been upheld as credible in court.

Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan stated after the December 2024 appeals court ruling: "Both E. Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today's decision." Carroll herself said in her 2025 memoir "Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President" that the trial represented an opportunity "to get my day in court finally" and to "get my life back."

Trump has consistently denied all allegations and characterized the cases as politically motivated. His legal team has described the cases as part of "Liberal Lawfare" and stated that "the American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes."

Note on Legal Terminology:
This case resulted in civil liability, not criminal conviction. In civil cases, the burden of proof is "preponderance of the evidence" (more likely than not), whereas criminal cases require proof "beyond a reasonable doubt." Civil liability results in monetary damages, while criminal convictions can result in imprisonment and other criminal penalties. Trump faces no criminal charges related to these allegations.