Donald Trump was found responsible for “sexual assault” in a New York civil court on Tuesday on Elizabeth Jean Carroll. The former columnist believes that “the world finally knows the truth” about the former American president.
It is with a big smile and escorted by a forest of cameras that E. Jean Carroll has left the New York court. After two weeks of civil trial, the nine jurors recognized, Tuesday, May 9, Donald Trump responsible for “sexual assault” on the former columnist. The billionaire will also have to pay him 5 million dollars for defamation.
>> United States: Former President Donald Trump found responsible for sexual assault by a New York civil court
famous journalist
Now 79, Elizabeth Jean Carroll is a well-known American journalist and author. Born in December 1943, she grew up in Indiana under the name of Betty Jean Carroll reports the New York Times (article in English). She studied at Indiana University in the 1960s and then decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and journalist. She decides to change her name to Elizabeth Jean, then shortened it to “E. Jean” for her first signature in the magazine Esquire.
Known for her first-person stories, she is published in magazines The Atlantic, Vanity Fair And Playboy where she was the first woman to contribute to the writing. E. Jean Caroll also writes for television and notably for the famous Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. She hosted her own show in the 1990s taking up her column “Ask E. Jean” which was published in the monthly She US for almost 30 years, where she answers the questions of readers. A column that stops at the end of 2019, according to E. Jean Caroll, because of the accusations of rape that she brings, in June of the same year, on Donald Trump in articles and an autobiography entitled What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.
“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me”
E. Jean Carroll will reiterate his accusations in court. After filing a complaint first for “defamation”, because Donald Trump had accused her of lying to sell her book, she sued for rape, thanks to a new law in the State of New York in 2022 allowing the presumed victims to take civil legal action even for potentially time-barred facts.
“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me”declares E. Jean Carroll during the trial held in April 2023. She explains that in the spring of 1996, she accidentally came across Donald Trump at the entrance to a department store in New York, the latter recognizing her for his column in the magazine She. He invites her, in a very playful tone, to help him choose a present. In the lingerie department, Donald Trump catches a “underwear” and asks him to try it. E. Jean Carroll then explains that she followed him into a cabin, where she claims that he pushed her against the wall, stuck her, then lowered her pantyhose and penetrated her with “his fingers in [son] vagina”then with her gender.
“When I wrote on the subject, it [Donald Trump] said that didn’t happen. He lied and ruined my reputation. (…) I am here to resume the course of my life.”
E. Jean CarrollAt the trial
In their verdict, the nine New York jurors unanimously determined that Donald Trump was responsible for a “sexual assault” on E. Jean Carroll and that he will have to pay him five million dollars in damages. The billionaire’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, assures that he will appeal denouncing “a strange verdict” : “The charge was for rape, it was a rape trial, all the way through, and that the jury rejected, but to come to other conclusions. Donald Trump is convinced (and like many people) … that he cannot be judged fairly in New York.”
When the verdict was announced, E. Jean Carroll was very moved and hugged several of her lawyers and those around her who had tears in their eyes. She left the Manhattan courthouse without making a statement and accompanied by her loyal lawyer Roberta Kaplan. “This verdict is a disgrace”denounced for his part on his social network Truth Social the former American president who wants to be a candidate for the 2024 election and who is already entangled in many legal troubles. “This victory is not just one for me, but it is one for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed”declared E. Jean Carroll adding that“Today, the world finally knows the truth” on Donald Trump.