Trump damages trial begins in E. Jean Carroll defamation case with former president expected in attendance
Former President Donald Trump is expected to attend his defamation damages trial in New York on Tuesday, a move that could bring him face to face with E. Jean Carroll, the writer he has been found civilly responsible for sexually abusing in the 1990s and whom he has repeatedly mocked and ridiculed since she first came forward four years ago.
Former President Donald Trump is expected to attend his defamation damages trial in New York on Tuesday, a move that could bring him face to face with E. Jean Carroll, the writer he has been found civilly responsible for sexually abusing in the 1990s and whom he has repeatedly mocked and ridiculed since she first came forward four years ago.
In a post to his Truth Social website on Tuesday, Trump said he would be attending the lower Manhattan trial after his victory in Monday night's Iowa caucuses. He attacked the case as a "giant election interference scam" and said, "I had no idea who this woman was."
The judge has already found Trump liable for defaming Carroll in remarks he made as president in 2019 mocking her sexual assault claim, so the jury’s only task will be to decide how much money she should get for those remarks, as well as others he made after a different jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation last year.
E. Jean Carroll; Former President Donald Trump.AFP; Getty ImagesJury selection is expected to take a few hours in the morning and will then be followed by opening statements in a damages trial that could result in Trump's being hit with a judgment in the tens of millions of dollars.
Carroll is seeking at least $10 million for the damage Trump caused to her reputation and most likely several times that amount in punitive damages for continuing to publicly call her account of his sexual abuse a "con job" on TV and social media and at his rallies.
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