Trump Finally Faces Consequences for Decades of Alleged Sexual Abuse

[aubiefifty 17,339]

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Ryan Bort

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Trump Finally Faces Consequences for Decades of Alleged Sexual Abuse

A jury determined on Tuesday that the former president is liable for defamation and battery of E. Jean Carroll

E. Jean Carroll leaves following her trial at Manhattan Federal Court on May 8, 2023 in New York City. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Donald Trump has been found liable for defamation and battery of E. Jean Carroll, a jury found after deliberating for only a few hours on Tuesday.

Carroll’s civil lawsuit against the former president means Trump will not face jail time, although the jury determined he must pay his accuser a total of $5 million. The jury found that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll, but not that Carroll proved Trump raped her.

The determination — reached by a jury of six men and three women — closes the legal saga that began with Carroll’s 2019 accusation that Trump raped her in New York nearly 30 years ago — and leaves the frontrunner to land the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination with yet another legal black mark and moral stain. 

It’s also the first time Trump has faced tangible consequences for his alleged sexual assaults. Carroll is one of dozens of women who have accused the president of various forms of sexual misconduct, dating back to the 1970s. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in every instance, often alleging, including in Carroll’s case, that the allegations are politically motivated.

The decision comes a day after both sides delivered closing arguments on Monday, with Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina arguing that Carroll made up her allegations to raise her profile and sell books — “exploiting” and “victimizing” those who have suffered from “real rape,” Tacopina said.

Carroll’s lawyers closed, in part, by playing video of Trump’s deposition, in which he both claims Carroll is not his “type” and mistakes Carroll for his second wife, Marla Maples.

The arguments closed a two-week trial that featured powerful testimony from Carroll, who recounted the “extremely painful” assault she says took place in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-Nineties. Carroll first leveled the allegation in 2019, and then filed a defamation suit after Trump bashed her for it. She filed a separate battery suit late last year under New York’s new Adult Survivors Act.

“As I’m sitting here today, I still feel it,” she told the court in the opening days of the trial.

Carroll sparred with Tacopina during cross examination a day later, pushing back when Tacopina referenced the “supposed” assault and taking him to task when he asked why she didn’t scream. “Women don’t come forward,” Carroll said. “One of the reasons they don’t come forward is because they’re always asked, ‘Why didn’t you scream?’ I’m telling you, he raped me whether I screamed or not.”

Carroll’s team also called one of the author’s friends, who testified that she called her immediately after the alleged assault, as well as two other woman who have accused Trump of sexual assault. Natasha Stoynoff testified that Trump assaulted her at Mar-a-Lago in 2005, and Jessica Leeds testified that Trump groped her on a plane in 1979. “He was trying to kiss me. He was trying to pull me towards him. He was grabbing my breasts,” Leeds said. “It was like he had 40 million hands.”

Trump’s team didn’t call anyone, informing Judge Lewis Kaplan last week that they would not be presenting a defense. The former president claimed to reporters overseas last Thursday, however, that he would probably attend the trial and that he was returning to the United States early to “confront” Carroll daring to accuse he, a “rich” and “famous” person, of sexual assault. Tacopina reportedly insisted to Judge Kaplan that this would not be happening and, sure enough, Trump’s lawyers did not inform the court that he would testify by the deadline Judge Kaplan set for them to do so on Sunday.

Trump has instead been presenting his case to the court of public opinion, railing against Carroll on Truth Social and to the press. “The E. Jean Carroll case, Ms. Bergdorf Goodman, is a made up SCAM,” the former president wrote in the opening days of the trial. “Her lawyer is a political operative, financed by a big political donor that they said didn’t exist, only to get caught lying about that.”

Judge Kaplan warned Trump’s attorneys later that day that their client may be “tampering with a new source of potential liability” by attacking Carroll. Trump nevertheless continued to go after Carroll, telling reporters last week that she’s a “disgrace” and that she shouldn’t have been allowed to sue him, among other jabs. “I know you understand what I’m dealing with,” Tacopina reportedly told Judge Kaplan in explaining Trump’s comments.

Trump addressed the case again on Truth Social on Tuesday morning, complaining, falsely, that he is “not allowed to speak or defend myself” in the trial while promising to “appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!”

Get unlimited access to RollingStone.com on all of your devices.

[aubiefifty 17,339]

I love it and this is just the beginning! does a happy dance........

[TexasTiger 13,285]

15 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

rollingstone.com

 

Rolling Stone

Ryan Bort

8–10 minutes

---

Skip to main content  

Trump Finally Faces Consequences for Decades of Alleged Sexual Abuse

A jury determined on Tuesday that the former president is liable for defamation and battery of E. Jean Carroll

E. Jean Carroll leaves following her trial at Manhattan Federal Court on May 8, 2023 in New York City. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Donald Trump has been found liable for defamation and battery of E. Jean Carroll, a jury found after deliberating for only a few hours on Tuesday.

Carroll’s civil lawsuit against the former president means Trump will not face jail time, although the jury determined he must pay his accuser a total of $5 million. The jury found that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll, but not that Carroll proved Trump raped her.

The determination — reached by a jury of six men and three women — closes the legal saga that began with Carroll’s 2019 accusation that Trump raped her in New York nearly 30 years ago — and leaves the frontrunner to land the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination with yet another legal black mark and moral stain. 

It’s also the first time Trump has faced tangible consequences for his alleged sexual assaults. Carroll is one of dozens of women who have accused the president of various forms of sexual misconduct, dating back to the 1970s. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in every instance, often alleging, including in Carroll’s case, that the allegations are politically motivated.

The decision comes a day after both sides delivered closing arguments on Monday, with Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina arguing that Carroll made up her allegations to raise her profile and sell books — “exploiting” and “victimizing” those who have suffered from “real rape,” Tacopina said.

Carroll’s lawyers closed, in part, by playing video of Trump’s deposition, in which he both claims Carroll is not his “type” and mistakes Carroll for his second wife, Marla Maples.

The arguments closed a two-week trial that featured powerful testimony from Carroll, who recounted the “extremely painful” assault she says took place in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-Nineties. Carroll first leveled the allegation in 2019, and then filed a defamation suit after Trump bashed her for it. She filed a separate battery suit late last year under New York’s new Adult Survivors Act.

“As I’m sitting here today, I still feel it,” she told the court in the opening days of the trial.

Carroll sparred with Tacopina during cross examination a day later, pushing back when Tacopina referenced the “supposed” assault and taking him to task when he asked why she didn’t scream. “Women don’t come forward,” Carroll said. “One of the reasons they don’t come forward is because they’re always asked, ‘Why didn’t you scream?’ I’m telling you, he raped me whether I screamed or not.”

Carroll’s team also called one of the author’s friends, who testified that she called her immediately after the alleged assault, as well as two other woman who have accused Trump of sexual assault. Natasha Stoynoff testified that Trump assaulted her at Mar-a-Lago in 2005, and Jessica Leeds testified that Trump groped her on a plane in 1979. “He was trying to kiss me. He was trying to pull me towards him. He was grabbing my breasts,” Leeds said. “It was like he had 40 million hands.”

Trump’s team didn’t call anyone, informing Judge Lewis Kaplan last week that they would not be presenting a defense. The former president claimed to reporters overseas last Thursday, however, that he would probably attend the trial and that he was returning to the United States early to “confront” Carroll daring to accuse he, a “rich” and “famous” person, of sexual assault. Tacopina reportedly insisted to Judge Kaplan that this would not be happening and, sure enough, Trump’s lawyers did not inform the court that he would testify by the deadline Judge Kaplan set for them to do so on Sunday.

Trump has instead been presenting his case to the court of public opinion, railing against Carroll on Truth Social and to the press. “The E. Jean Carroll case, Ms. Bergdorf Goodman, is a made up SCAM,” the former president wrote in the opening days of the trial. “Her lawyer is a political operative, financed by a big political donor that they said didn’t exist, only to get caught lying about that.”

Judge Kaplan warned Trump’s attorneys later that day that their client may be “tampering with a new source of potential liability” by attacking Carroll. Trump nevertheless continued to go after Carroll, telling reporters last week that she’s a “disgrace” and that she shouldn’t have been allowed to sue him, among other jabs. “I know you understand what I’m dealing with,” Tacopina reportedly told Judge Kaplan in explaining Trump’s comments.

Trump addressed the case again on Truth Social on Tuesday morning, complaining, falsely, that he is “not allowed to speak or defend myself” in the trial while promising to “appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!”

Get unlimited access to RollingStone.com on all of your devices.

Most Evangelicals still prefer him to Jesus.

[Leftfield 2,800]

11 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Most Evangelicals still prefer him to Jesus.

Well, yeah. Has Jesus owned any libs recently?

[AUDynasty 585]

Unfortunately this is going to be another fundraising opportunity for Trump as he dives into "deep state" narrative again. And his base will eat it up like ivermectin.

[aubiefifty 17,339]

13 minutes ago, AUDynasty said:

Unfortunately this is going to be another fundraising opportunity for Trump as he dives into "deep state" narrative again. And his base will eat it up like ivermectin.

he best be careful they are also investigating him for money laundering...........

[aubiefifty 17,339]

trump created a fuss. as usual he was all mouth...........

 

The judge said if Dump wants his voice heard he can testify under oath. Guess what his response was?

He declined.

i hope trumps other victims hold him accountable as well.

[Auburnfan91 1,408]

So the jury ruled he didn't rape her but he still somehow defamed her for denying he raped her.....

 

[homersapien 11,625]

1 hour ago, AUDynasty said:

Unfortunately this is going to be another fundraising opportunity for Trump as he dives into "deep state" narrative again. And his base will eat it up like ivermectin.

I'll file that under the "Fools and their money....."   category.

[homersapien 11,625]

2 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

So the jury ruled he didn't rape her but he still somehow defamed her for denying he raped her.....

 

No, the jury did not rule that  "he didn't rape her". 

They ruled on the case that was brought before them.  Rape is a criminal charge and this was a civil case.  (Unfortunately)

 

[homersapien 11,625]

“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything," he said in the 2005 conversation. "Grab 'em by the *****."

 

Or maybe not.

 

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by homersapien

[CoffeeTiger 5,306]

7 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

So the jury ruled he didn't rape her but he still somehow defamed her for denying he raped her.....

 

"

But the jurors concluded that Trump sexually abused her and that she was injured as a result. They awarded Carroll $2 million in compensation for those injuries, along with $20,000 in punitive damages after also concluding that Trump’s actions were reckless.

The jurors were also asked to consider whether Carroll generally convinced them that Trump defamed her with a statement he posted to social media last year, assailing her as a liar. Jurors agreed that Trump did so, awarding Carroll $1.7 million in damages for “reputational repair” and $1 million for other damages. They added another $280,000 in punitive damages after concluding that Trump acted recklessly here too."

 

[aubiefifty 17,339]

1 hour ago, Auburnfan91 said:

So the jury ruled he didn't rape her but he still somehow defamed her for denying he raped her.....

 

you are splitting hairs on the rape versus assault thing. mr trump grabbed that lady by the *****. he bragged about it on tv and got caught. the jury said he did the same exact thing he bragged about on that show. he forced several fingers in her and that is penetration. i just want that to be clear here..........just in case

[Auburnfan91 1,408]

4 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

you are splitting hairs on the rape versus assault thing. mr trump grabbed that lady by the *****. he bragged about it on tv and got caught. the jury said he did the same exact thing he bragged about on that show. he forced several fingers in her and that is penetration. i just want that to be clear here..........just in case

Actually no, the jury didn't say he did the exact same thing.

To qualify as sexual abuse, the judge said the law does not define which parts of the body are intimate:

The judge gave the jury a very low threshold on the "battery" part. The judge explained earlier in the trial that even a gentle but unwanted peck of the cheek can be battery:

Quote

WHAT WILL JURORS DECIDE?

Kaplan instructed the nine jurors at the trial’s start that the central claim pertains to “battery.”

He said that in a civil case, battery can result from even the slightest unlawful touching of another person.

“The law does not draw a line between different degrees of violence. It totally prohibits all unconsented-to touching from the least to the most violent that a reasonable person would find offensive. In other words, anything from a gentle but unwanted peck on the cheek to stabbing somebody with a knife could be battery for purposes of a civil case like this one,” Kaplan said.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-trial-explainer-b81969ba9e3cc0406909497f87e9e14c

 

So basically, all the jury had to be convinced of is that at the very least Trump gave Carrol an unwanted peck on the cheek in order to find him guilty of sexual abuse.

Since this was a civil case, it's a lower standard than "beyond reasonable doubt".

[icanthearyou 4,465]

6 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

So the jury ruled he didn't rape her but he still somehow defamed her for denying he raped her.....

 

The jury members are ALL part of the "deep state". 

[AuCivilEng1 11,048]

I don't feel like him mistaking a photo of  E. Jean Carroll for his ex wife and then immediately pivoting to  "she's not my type" is getting the traction it deserves. What an awkward af moment. If your defense is going to be that you couldn't have SA'd a woman because she's not your type, the worst thing you can do is mistake her for someone you married. Also, isn't one of Trump's big digs at Biden that he's too old and senile to be president? Isn't mistaking other women for your ex wife THE stereotypical old senile move?

Edited May 10, 2023 by AuCivilEng1

[Leftfield 2,800]

5 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I don't feel like him mistaking a photo of  E. Jean Carroll for his ex wife and then immediately pivoting to  "she's not my type" is getting the traction it deserves. What an awkward af moment. If your defense is going to be that you couldn't have SA'd a woman because she's not your type, the worst thing you can do is mistake her for someone you married. Also, isn't one of Trump's big digs at Biden that he's too old and senile to be president? Isn't mistaking other women for your ex wife THE stereotypical old senile move?

I'm guessing the prosecution hammered this. Even if you didn't know Trump coming into the trial, his credibility evaporates after this. I'm sure the juvenile barbs and insults he threw at her didn't help.

[AuCivilEng1 11,048]

1 minute ago, Leftfield said:

I'm guessing the prosecution hammered this. Even if you didn't know Trump coming into the trial, his credibility evaporates after this. I'm sure the juvenile barbs and insults he threw at her didn't help.

His lawyers must love representing him. You literally cannot speculate his next move. The easiest way to try to strategize, if you're representing Trump is to just assume he's going to do the worst thing he could do for himself. 

[Leftfield 2,800]

35 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

His lawyers must love representing him. You literally cannot speculate his next move. The easiest way to try to strategize, if you're representing Trump is to just assume he's going to do the worst thing he could do for himself. 

With all the stories about the number of lawyers he's stiffed I don't get why they do it. Publicity? "Hey, we represented literally one of the worst human beings on Earth! We'd be happy to take your case!"

[AuCivilEng1 11,048]

1 minute ago, Leftfield said:

With all the stories about the number of lawyers he's stiffed I don't get why they do it. Publicity? "Hey, we represented literally one of the worst human beings on Earth! We'd be happy to take your case!"

I normally just assume that he has dirt on anyone who chooses to put up with his a**. I definitely think that's the case for Lindsey Graham and Rudi. 

[Mims44 1,928]

18 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

rollingstone.com

 

Rolling Stone

Ryan Bort

8–10 minutes

---

Skip to main content  

Trump Finally Faces Consequences for Decades of Alleged Sexual Abuse

A jury determined on Tuesday that the former president is liable for defamation and battery of E. Jean Carroll

E. Jean Carroll leaves following her trial at Manhattan Federal Court on May 8, 2023 in New York City. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Donald Trump has been found liable for defamation and battery of E. Jean Carroll, a jury found after deliberating for only a few hours on Tuesday.

Carroll’s civil lawsuit against the former president means Trump will not face jail time, although the jury determined he must pay his accuser a total of $5 million. The jury found that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll, but not that Carroll proved Trump raped her.

The determination — reached by a jury of six men and three women — closes the legal saga that began with Carroll’s 2019 accusation that Trump raped her in New York nearly 30 years ago — and leaves the frontrunner to land the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination with yet another legal black mark and moral stain. 

It’s also the first time Trump has faced tangible consequences for his alleged sexual assaults. Carroll is one of dozens of women who have accused the president of various forms of sexual misconduct, dating back to the 1970s. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in every instance, often alleging, including in Carroll’s case, that the allegations are politically motivated.

The decision comes a day after both sides delivered closing arguments on Monday, with Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina arguing that Carroll made up her allegations to raise her profile and sell books — “exploiting” and “victimizing” those who have suffered from “real rape,” Tacopina said.

Carroll’s lawyers closed, in part, by playing video of Trump’s deposition, in which he both claims Carroll is not his “type” and mistakes Carroll for his second wife, Marla Maples.

The arguments closed a two-week trial that featured powerful testimony from Carroll, who recounted the “extremely painful” assault she says took place in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-Nineties. Carroll first leveled the allegation in 2019, and then filed a defamation suit after Trump bashed her for it. She filed a separate battery suit late last year under New York’s new Adult Survivors Act.

“As I’m sitting here today, I still feel it,” she told the court in the opening days of the trial.

Carroll sparred with Tacopina during cross examination a day later, pushing back when Tacopina referenced the “supposed” assault and taking him to task when he asked why she didn’t scream. “Women don’t come forward,” Carroll said. “One of the reasons they don’t come forward is because they’re always asked, ‘Why didn’t you scream?’ I’m telling you, he raped me whether I screamed or not.”

Carroll’s team also called one of the author’s friends, who testified that she called her immediately after the alleged assault, as well as two other woman who have accused Trump of sexual assault. Natasha Stoynoff testified that Trump assaulted her at Mar-a-Lago in 2005, and Jessica Leeds testified that Trump groped her on a plane in 1979. “He was trying to kiss me. He was trying to pull me towards him. He was grabbing my breasts,” Leeds said. “It was like he had 40 million hands.”

Trump’s team didn’t call anyone, informing Judge Lewis Kaplan last week that they would not be presenting a defense. The former president claimed to reporters overseas last Thursday, however, that he would probably attend the trial and that he was returning to the United States early to “confront” Carroll daring to accuse he, a “rich” and “famous” person, of sexual assault. Tacopina reportedly insisted to Judge Kaplan that this would not be happening and, sure enough, Trump’s lawyers did not inform the court that he would testify by the deadline Judge Kaplan set for them to do so on Sunday.

Trump has instead been presenting his case to the court of public opinion, railing against Carroll on Truth Social and to the press. “The E. Jean Carroll case, Ms. Bergdorf Goodman, is a made up SCAM,” the former president wrote in the opening days of the trial. “Her lawyer is a political operative, financed by a big political donor that they said didn’t exist, only to get caught lying about that.”

Judge Kaplan warned Trump’s attorneys later that day that their client may be “tampering with a new source of potential liability” by attacking Carroll. Trump nevertheless continued to go after Carroll, telling reporters last week that she’s a “disgrace” and that she shouldn’t have been allowed to sue him, among other jabs. “I know you understand what I’m dealing with,” Tacopina reportedly told Judge Kaplan in explaining Trump’s comments.

Trump addressed the case again on Truth Social on Tuesday morning, complaining, falsely, that he is “not allowed to speak or defend myself” in the trial while promising to “appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!”

Get unlimited access to RollingStone.com on all of your devices.

What are these consequences he's facing?

Life? 10years? 5? 1?

1 hour ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I don't feel like him mistaking a photo of  E. Jean Carroll for his ex wife and then immediately pivoting to  "she's not my type" is getting the traction it deserves. What an awkward af moment. If your defense is going to be that you couldn't have SA'd a woman because she's not your type, the worst thing you can do is mistake her for someone you married. Also, isn't one of Trump's big digs at Biden that he's too old and senile to be president? Isn't mistaking other women for your ex wife THE stereotypical old senile move?

People don't seem to mind, he made comments about being more sexually attracted to his own daughter than his wife at one point. Thought that would have swayed people... it didn't.

[aubiefifty 17,339]

10 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Actually no, the jury didn't say he did the exact same thing.

To qualify as sexual abuse, the judge said the law does not define which parts of the body are intimate:

The judge gave the jury a very low threshold on the "battery" part. The judge explained earlier in the trial that even a gentle but unwanted peck of the cheek can be battery:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-trial-explainer-b81969ba9e3cc0406909497f87e9e14c

 

So basically, all the jury had to be convinced of is that at the very least Trump gave Carrol an unwanted peck on the cheek in order to find him guilty of sexual abuse.

Since this was a civil case, it's a lower standard than "beyond reasonable doubt".

so you have the trump tat as well? i believe everything she said.apparently the joror did the same. but you cannot live with your boy getting tagged huh? buckle up buttercup there is lots mor coming.

[Didba 5,298]

18 hours ago, Leftfield said:

Well, yeah. Has Jesus owned any libs recently?

Wait till they figure out Jesus was a liberal 

[Leftfield 2,800]

Just now, Didba said:

Wait till they figure out Jesus was a liberal 

The hell you say!

[TexasTiger 13,285]

17 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

So the jury ruled he didn't rape her but he still somehow defamed her for denying he raped her.....

 

Are you that clueless? Rhetorical, btw.