Court orders Trump to pay $83 million in compensation to writer who accused him of rape

Donald Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll more than $83 million in damages for repeated defamation, according to reports. NBC News.

The verdict includes $11 million for damage to Carroll's reputation, $7,3 million for emotional distress and other damages, and $65 million in punitive damages. The decision came after stormy closing arguments, during which Trump stormed out of the courtroom. He returned for his lawyer's closing argument, but left the courthouse at 16 p.m. before the jury reached its verdict.

Some time later, he wrote about this on his social network Truth Social. “Absolutely ridiculous!” – he wrote, adding that he would appeal. “They took away all our First Amendment rights. This is not America!” His lawyer, Alina Habba, told reporters the sentence “stinks” and called the case “a violation of our justice system.”

Carroll did not speak to reporters as she left the courthouse, but later issued a statement saying: “This is a great victory for every woman who gets up when she gets knocked down, and a huge defeat for every bully who tries to hold a woman down.” "

Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said the “verdict proves that the law applies to everyone in our country, even the rich, even the famous, even former presidents.” “We thank the jury for standing up for E. Jean and the rule of law,” she added.

On the subject: The court accused Donald Trump of $250 million fraud

Trump had already been called to account for defaming Carroll during his presidency by ridiculing her allegations of sexual assault, so jurors were tasked with determining how much she should be awarded in damages.

Compensation for damage

Kaplan asked the jury for at least $24 million in damages for Carroll and “lots and lots of money” in punitive damages to stop him from continuing to defame her.

According to her, Trump “believes that the rules do not apply to him.” “He thinks that with his wealth and power, he can treat Ms. Carroll any way he wants and not suffer any consequences,” she said. The lawyer noted that since he was first found guilty of defaming Carroll last year, he has repeatedly publicly insulted her. She urged jurors to “make him pay for what he did to E. Jean Carroll.”

She also showed jurors several examples of Trump's repeated comments about Carroll in interviews with reporters and on social media. Earlier this week, Trump tweeted about Carroll about three dozen times on his Truth Social website.

In her closing argument, Habba said Carroll “failed to establish that she was entitled to damages” because she “actively sought the comments and attention” she received. She also said Trump was not to blame for the number of threats she received online after going public. “It controls social media users as much as it controls the weather,” she said.

Hubba claims Carroll's expert report, which said it would cost between $7 million and $12 million to restore her reputation, had "more holes than Swiss cheese." A jury awarded Carroll $11 million in that lawsuit. The trial began on January 16, and Trump was the final witness in the case. He testified for less than five minutes.

Carroll in the case against Trump

Last year, another jury found Trump guilty of sexually assaulting her at a New York department store in the 1990s and of defaming her by mocking her statements after leaving the White House. They awarded her $5 million in compensation damage, a decision Trump is appealing.

U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan - no relation to Carroll's lawyer - found Trump guilty of defamation in the ongoing case based on the jury's decision. The decision prohibited Trump from claiming that Carroll's statement was fictitious, but Trump was able to do so anyway in his short testimony. “I think this is a false accusation,” he said.