Former President of the United States Donald Trump assured that he would be present at the trial for alleged libel of the writer E. Jean Carroll. “Yes, I will go there and explain that I don't know who the hell she is, that I have no idea,” the former president said in an interview with CNN.
This is the second trial of its kind that Trump has faced in less than a year: This trial which comes as Trump is also dealing with a number of criminal cases will take place in the Manhattan federal courthouse, just meters from the courtroom where the prosecution team New York General Letitia James argued that he committed massive civil fraud. Last week, Trump faced a $370 million fine and the possible collapse of his real estate empire.
In 2022, Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996, a case that was resolved on May 9 when the jury found him “responsible” for sexual abuse and defamation.
E. Jean Carroll guaranteed that Donald Trump had hurt her, while the former American president denied the claims. “I have never met this person in my life. She's trying to sell a new book that should signal her motivation. “It should be sold in the fiction section,” he insisted, accusing it of being part of a political conspiracy. Carroll sued Trump in 2019 over these statements, saying Trump's denials had damaged his reputation.
Carroll won the case: After just three hours of deliberation, the jury found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation and awarded him $5 million in compensatory damages.