General Discussion

E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump is the name of two related civil lawsuits filed in federal court by American author E. Jean Carroll against United States President Donald Trump. The two suits, both overseen by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, resulted in a total of $88.3 million in damages being awarded to Carroll and are undergoing appeal efforts. The cases were related to Carroll's accusation from mid-2019 (during Trump's first term) that he sexually assaulted her in late 1995 or early 1996. Trump denied the allegations, prompting Carroll to sue him for defamation in November 2019 (a.k.a. Carroll I).

In November 2022, Carroll filed her second suit against Trump (a.k.a. Carroll II), renewing her claim of defamation and adding a claim of battery[a] under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law allowing sexual-assault victims to file civil suits beyond expired statutes of limitations. The suit went to trial in April 2023. Evidence included testimony from two friends Carroll spoke to after the alleged incident, a photograph of Carroll with Trump in 1987, testimony from two women who had separately accused Trump of sexual assault, footage from the Trump Access Hollywood tape and his October 2022 deposition. In reaching the verdict, the judge asked the jury to find if the preponderance of the evidence suggested that Trump raped Carroll under New York's narrow legal definition of rape at that time, denoting forcible penile penetration. The jury instead found him liable for a lesser degree of sexual abuse, as well as defamation, and ordered him to pay US$5 million in damages. Trump unsuccessfully made a counterclaim and appealed to the Second Circuit. Trump then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case in June 2026.

In September 2023, Kaplan issued a partial summary judgment regarding Carroll I, finding Trump liable for defamation via his 2019 statements. The jury verdict from the January 2024 trial was $83.3 million in additional damages. Trump secured a bond for this amount plus 10% to appeal. The Second Circuit rejected his effort in April 2026. Trump's team indicated that it would ask the Supreme Court to use the Westfall Act to swap the Department of Justice in as defendant, which would moot the case as the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._Trump