Donald Trump, ex-president of the United States, has to pay millions of dollars in compensation for a sexual assault. © Evan Vucci/AP
These are decades-old allegations that could now also have an impact on the 2024 US presidential election: A woman accuses Trump of rape. She is right - but not completely.
New York/Washington - Former U.S. President Donald Trump has to pay millions of dollars in compensation for a sexual assault. This was decided by a jury on Tuesday in New York, as a dpa reporter reported in the courtroom. The accusation of rape was dismissed. In addition, the jury considered it proven that Trump had slandered the writer E. Jean Carroll. In total, Trump must pay five million US dollars (about 4.56 million euros) in compensation and penalties. The jury - consisting of six men and three women - reached its verdict after less than three hours of deliberation.
Jean Carroll leaves the courthouse in New York. © Seth Wenig/AP/dpa
In civil proceedings, there is a lower threshold for a guilty verdict in the USA than in criminal trials: In civil law, this means that the jurors consider a crime to be more likely than rather unlikely. In criminal proceedings, on the other hand, guilt must be proven beyond doubt.
Trump rails against verdict
Trump has sharply criticized the decision of a New York jury against him. "This verdict is a disgrace," Trump wrote on Tuesday on the platform he co-founded, Truth Social. It is a continuation of the "biggest witch hunt of all time," wrote the current presidential candidate. "I have absolutely no idea who this woman is," he said, referring to plaintiff E. Jean Carroll, who had accused him of raping her in a posh New York department store in the mid-1990s. Trump had denied the allegations from the beginning.
Trump wants to be president again
Trump wants to become US president again in 2024 and is running for the Republican nomination - he portrays legal action against him in a number of cases as politically motivated. At the beginning of April, Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged in another case.
The US author Carroll had accused Trump in the current case of raping her in the mid-1990s in a New York luxury department store. The real estate entrepreneur, who was not yet active as a politician at the time, had always rejected the accusation. Under criminal law, the allegations are time-barred, but the now 79-year-old Carroll had legal recourse open to him under civil law.
Carroll's defense had tried to substantiate their allegations with several witnesses. Two women reported that the author had called them shortly after the incident and told them about the crime. Two other women told the jury that Trump had put them in similar situations and had become abusive.
Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina announced an appeal. "He's ready to move on. He will fight it with an appeal," he said yesterday outside the courthouse about his client. He welcomed the fact that the civil lawsuit for rape was dismissed, Tacopina continued. However, the verdict was inconsistent - the court was also biased. Earlier, Tacopin had already said that the allegations were "unimaginable" and "implausible". Trump was already prominent as a real estate entrepreneur at that time, so such an act would not have gone unnoticed.
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Carroll's lawyer has welcomed the outcome of the civil case. "We are very satisfied," said Roberta Kaplan as she left the courthouse in New York alongside her client. Caroll himself did not comment outside the courthouse.
Trump was not present in person
Trump had not testified at the trial itself and was not personally present at the trial. His lawyer had justified this by saying that the former president wanted to spare New Yorkers the great logistical effort that would be associated with a trip to the East Coast metropolis and the central borough of Manhattan.
Carroll had made the rape allegation public in 2019 in a book excerpt. Trump reacted at the time, among other things, with the remark that Carroll was not his type. He also accused the former columnist of the magazine "Elle" of only wanting to boost the sales of her book. The writer then sued Trump – initially for defamation because he had portrayed her as a liar. A new New York law recently made it possible to include the allegation of assault caused by the rape.
Various women accuse Trump of sexual harassment
Various women have accused Trump of sexual harassment in the past, which he has always denied. During his 2016 presidential election campaign, an old audio recording was also made public in which Trump made lewd and derogatory remarks about women – and about the fact that as a star you can also touch women's genitals if you want to.
This recording from 2005 also played a role in the argumentation of Carroll's lawyers. It was not - as portrayed by Trump - talk among men, but a confession about the way he behaved. That's what he did with Carroll.
Sentiment in the U.S. is heated
The mood in the U.S. is heated in view of the legal prosecution of Trump. The 76-year-old is being investigated for a number of possible crimes. He himself portrays the actions of law enforcement against him as a "witch hunt" designed to prevent his candidacy in 2024. Most recently, his poll numbers had risen in internal party polls – Trump is well ahead of other possible Republican candidates.
A few weeks ago, Trump was criminally charged in another case in New York. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses him of attempting to increase his chances in the 2016 presidential election by paying hush money to two women, thereby violating election laws. Further investigations are underway against him - for example, because of his role in the storming of the US Capitol a few weeks before the swearing-in of his Democratic successor Joe Biden as president. Dpa