Donald Trump, ex-president of the United States, has to pay millions of dollars in compensation for a sexual assault. © Evan Vucci/AP
A U.S. author accuses Donald Trump of rape. The New York jury does not go that far - but gives the former US president a bitter blow. Trump doesn't want to leave it at that.
New York/Washington - Former U.S. President Donald Trump wants to appeal his conviction for sexual abuse. He announced this after a lost civil lawsuit yesterday evening (local time) via video message. "The whole thing is a fraud and (...) a disgrace to our whole country," railed the Republican, who wants to move back into the White House in 2024.
A New York jury had sentenced him to pay millions of dollars in compensation for the sexual offense reported by a US author.
For Trump, who wants to go into the presidential election next year as a Republican candidate, the verdict is another legal setback. After the eagerly awaited decision, some party colleagues were also critical of the 76-year-old's candidacy for the highest state office.
Five million US dollars in compensation
Author E. Jean Carroll had accused Trump of raping her in a posh New York department store in the mid-1990s. The real estate entrepreneur, who was not yet active as a politician at the time, 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. The jury evaluated the incident, among other things, as sexual abuse - the accusation of rape, she rejected. In total, Trump must pay five million US dollars (about 4.56 million euros) in compensation and penalties.
Jean Carroll leaves the courthouse in New York. © Seth Wenig/AP/dpa
"I have filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and get my life back," US media quoted Carroll as saying in a statement. "Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not only for me, but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed."
After the verdict was announced, Trump was outraged by the decision in his usual manner and spoke of a politically motivated "witch hunt" in a video on his Twitter replacement Truth Social. The liberal East Coast metropolis of New York is "probably the worst place in the U.S." to get a fair trial.
Not the only case against Trump
At the beginning of April, Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged in another case. He is under investigation for a number of possible crimes. Most recently, his poll numbers had risen in internal party polls - Trump is well ahead of other possible Republican candidates who want to challenge US President Joe Biden in 2024. Despite all the accusations against Trump, the Republicans are still largely united behind him.
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Nevertheless, after the verdict was announced, critical tones were also heard. "Republicans should not dismiss this and say that this does not matter," said the ex-governor of the state of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson. He is also running for the Republican presidential nomination.
Republican Senator Kevin Cramer said the ruling was not "disqualifying" but had implications for Trump's eligibility. "That and some other things make me doubt whether he would be the best candidate for the party," he was quoted as saying by CNN. Trump ally Kevin McCarthy, as chairman of the House of Representatives, did not want to comment on the verdict in the afternoon when asked.
Various women have accused Trump of sexual harassment in the past, which he has always denied. During his 2016 presidential campaign, an old audio recording was leaked in which Trump made lewd and derogatory remarks about women – and about how you can touch women's genitals if you want to and be a star like him. Dpa