$5 Million in Damages – The New York Times

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Donald Trump’s legal problems are getting worse.

Yesterday, the jury found the former president responsible for the sexual abuse and defamation of the magazine writer E. Jean Carroll, ordering him to pay $5 million. The case is a civil trial, meaning Trump will not face jail time. But the verdict showed that jurors believed Carroll’s claim that Trump assaulted her in a store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Carroll also accused Trump of raping her. The jury ruled against Carroll on that amount, finding insufficient evidence to support the charges.

Today’s newsletter will cover the details of the case, reactions to the verdict and potential political ramifications.

At the heart of the lawsuit is Carroll’s account of his meeting with Trump, which was described in detail during the hearing. She said she saw him outside the Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan nearly three decades ago, and she asked him to help her find a gift for a female friend. The two bantered as they walked through the store, and asked her to try on a gray-blue bodysuit from the lingerie section. He refused and told him to put it instead. Trump then motioned her into the dressing room, where he threw her against the wall, used weights to pin her down and raped her, according to Carroll.

The episode “left me never able to have a romantic life again,” Carroll said. (They can sue after too much time has passed under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that gives abuse victims a one-time chance to sue their accusers.)

To make their case, Carroll and her attorney relied on Trump’s history of demeaning comments to women. They pointed to the “Hollywood Access” tape, released during the 2016 election, which boasted that they could grab women by their genitals without permission. “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump said. He stood by that statement during his deposition in the Carroll case.

Carroll’s lawyers argued that Trump’s comments indicated that he might attack his accusers. The jury, made up of six men and three women, concluded that the allegations of sexual harassment, but not rape, were more likely to be true than false, and that Trump was responsible.

Trump denied the allegations. He did not testify, and his attorney did not call any defense witnesses at trial. He previously told reporters that the allegations were untrue because Carroll was not his “type.”

Trump vowed to appeal the ruling. “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is,” Trump posted yesterday on Truth Social, a social media platform. “This verdict is a disgrace – a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time!”

Trump is set to appear live at a CNN town hall tonight, where he will answer questions from voters.

Many of Trump’s political rivals and opponents, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, have remained silent on the verdict. Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman and author who became president, defended Trump: “I will say what everyone else is thinking: If the defendant is not named Donald Trump, will there be a lawsuit?”

One 2024 candidate criticized Trump. “The jury’s verdict should be taken seriously and is yet another example of Donald Trump’s unacceptable behavior,” said Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas governor and longtime Trump critic.

It’s unclear how the decision will affect Trump’s presidential campaign. His poll numbers against DeSantis, a potential primary rival in the Republican primary, improved even as a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

But Trump’s advisers didn’t make the same predictions after the Carroll verdict, my colleagues Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan write.

Trump will almost certainly face legal trouble before the 2024 election. The Manhattan trial could begin as early as next January. Trump is also being investigated for his involvement in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and for handling classified documents.

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Buddy Holly, a petit basset griffon Vendéen, took top prize at the Westminster Dog Show. They are the first of their kind – better known as PBGV, because it’s easier to say – to do so. (Second place went to Rummie, a Pekingese whose breeder and handler, David Fitzpatrick, has produced two previous best of show winners, including Wasabi, the 2021 winner.)

“I’ve been dreaming about this since I was 9 years old,” said Buddy Holly’s owner and trainer, Janice Hayes. He said the dog is “the epitome of a show dog; nothing bothers him.” Now he can relax and go back to his daily life, which involves hanging out with his “boyfriend,” Hayes said.

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