Former US President Donald Trump found responsible for rape in civil case, ordered to pay $5 million in compensation

The Manhattan federal court jury declared to the Former United States President Donald Trump responsible for the rape of former journalist Elizabeth Jean Carroll in the 1990s. Charged only civilly and not criminally, Trump called the sentence “shameful.”

“This verdict is an outrage, a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.. “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is.”

The judge in the case, Lewis Kaplan, did not ask the jury to determine whether the former president was guilty of raping the ex-journalist, but if he considered him civilly responsible for the violation which Carroll claims to have suffered.

“I’m here because Trump raped me”: terrible story of a journalist in a new trial against the tycoon

Carroll, 79, sued Trump last year for a rape that occurred in 1996 in the changing rooms of a department store on Fifth Avenue in New York. The woman also sued the tycoon for defamation after calling the revelation of the assault in a book she published in 2019 a “complete fraud”, “falsehood” and a “lie”.

Trump’s lawyers accuse her of concocting the assault for “money, political reasons and status.”

Trump had denied the story to Call her “crazy” assuring that the journalist “was not his type” and that the accusations were just a publicity stunt to sell more copies of the book in which he narrated what happened.

About a dozen women accused Trump of sexual assault before the 2016 election in which he became president of the United States. The Republican, who aspires to return to the White House in the 2024 elections, always denied the accusations and until now had never been convicted by justice.

Elizabeth Carroll’s testimony at trial

Carroll acknowledged at the trial – which lasted two weeks and in which Trump did not appear – that she felt “ashamed” of this assault that has prevented her from having a romantic relationship since then. “It took me a long time to realize that staying silent doesn’t work.” said.

“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen (…) He lied and destroyed my reputation, and I’m here to try to get my life back,” testified the former columnist for the magazine Elle79 years old.

The journalist acknowledged that that day in 1996 she felt “delighted” to be able to go shopping with the tycoon on Fifth Avenue in New York and even thought that it would be a great story to tell. “It was a fun New York scene,” she told Manhattan Federal Court.

“I love giving advice, and there was Donald Trump asking me for advice on how to buy a gift”said Carroll, who acknowledged that the former president, who at that time was known to be one of the great tycoons in the country, was kind and funny.

Carroll recounted that he followed one of the testers. “That open door haunted me for years because I just walked in”he acknowledged. Already inside the changing rooms, Trump harassed her to the point of non-consensual penetration.

“But I’m proud to say that I went out there, raised my knee and pushed him back.”detailed the editor, who admitted that that episode prevented her from “having a romantic life again.”

The journalist did not tell, she said, because “she was afraid of Donald Trump” and “ashamed”: “I thought it was my fault.“, held.

Donald Trump denied having raped a journalist: “First, he’s not my type. Second, it never happened”

Trump, with 34 criminal charges against him

Carroll’s case adds to the recent indictment of the former president for concealing a series of bribes paid to Stephanie Clifford, adult film actress, better known as Stormy Daniels.

The former president pleaded not guilty last March to 34 charges presented by the Justice for having paid Clifford with money from his campaign in order to prevent him from talking about an alleged infidelity days before the presidential elections that took him to the White House in 2016.

The tycoon is also being investigated for trying to reverse his defeat in the 2020 elections in the southern state of Georgia, for his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House and for his involvement in the assault on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.