Former President Donald Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll over $83 million in damages for repeatedly defaming her, a jury found Friday.

The nine-person jury began deliberations in federal court in New York at 1:40 p.m. ET and reached a verdict in just under three hours.

  • PrinceWith999Enemies@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Trump’s attorney Alina Habba contended that Carroll “had failed to show she is entitled to any damages at all” because she “actively sought the comments and the attention” she received.

    Wow. They actually used the “she was asking for it” argument against a victim of sexual assault.

    Also, he’s still not going to shut up about it and will land back in court under additional defamation charges.

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
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      10 months ago

      Not exactly. It’s far more insidious (and stupid). Her tact was to show that Carroll already received her financial reward by all the books and news appearances (i.e. the “comments and attention”). Basically, “Sure, she was raped, but look how well she profited from it!”

      Too bad that kind of argument is only really relevant to the first trial. This one was punitive damages for failing to shut up after losing the first one, the purpose of which is to punish Trump so he thinks twice about doing it again, not award reparations to Ms. Carroll.

      Alina Habba is truly the lawyer Trump deserves.

      • PrinceWith999Enemies@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I agree, and my comment was intended as a reference not to the original rape but to the defense saying that she did not deserve any additional compensation due to Trump’s ongoing defamation because she wanted to profit off of it.

        If I remember, one of his initial defenses against the allegations of rape was that the woman accusing him was too unattractive to rape, while other defenses were “they just let you do it.” I was thinking about the ironic application of the “asking for it” argument being applied to the additional judgement of defamation.

        He’s going to triple down on this though, because he never thinks twice about anything. I don’t know if he is actually playing the game of “never admit to being wrong even when you are” or if he’s simply delusional enough to have reconstructed reality in his own brain, but I’d lay a wager that he’s not going to be able to shut up about this, even now. I don’t think it will even take a reporter triggering him by asking about it. I think it’s just going to pop out in one of his word salad campaign rambles.

        • Telorand@reddthat.com
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          10 months ago

          I think it’s just going to pop out in one of his word salad campaign rambles.

          And I can’t wait for that to happen, because I’m sure a third jury will be so pleased (/s) he did it a third time.

      • akilou@sh.itjust.works
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        10 months ago

        Can’t wait for someone to ask him about the case at a rally or something. He won’t be able to help himself.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      He knows very well how profitable being a victim can be and must think that that’s why anyone is a victim. They don’t win cases (because Trump hasn’t ever really had a case), they settle out of court or gain from the sympathy of others.

  • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    The sheer speed at which the jury came to this determination is a really good sign that everyone on the jury was like “fuck this dude in particular”. Not only that, what I think was hilarious was that Trump’s testimony about his valuation in his NY civil trail was submitted and accepted as evidence for the determination on this fine. Like literally some Loony Toons Wile E. Coyote exploding in your face kind of thing.

    This was such a massive L for Trump’s legal team that I believe the correct lawyer term is HA HA HA HAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA!!

    I swear, I’m just waiting for what creative backhoing their graves Trump’s team will be doing in the appeals.

    What’s that saying? “Speech is free. Lies are expensive.”

    • Riccosuave@lemmy.worldOP
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      10 months ago

      “Speech is free. Lies are expensive.”

      I’m gonna go ahead and borrow this, and then save it for later.

      • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I open my mouth and out pops something spiteful

        Words are so cheap, but they can turn out expensive

        Words like conviction can turn into a sentence

    • Sage the Lawyer@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I believe the correct lawyer term is HA HA HA HAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA!!

      Lawyer here. Can confirm.

    • Seleni@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      ‘Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for.’ - Louis Tompros, lawyer with WilmerHale and lecturer at Harvard Law School.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      10 months ago

      I mean, throwing a tantrum and storming out of court is going to be seen as a sign of disrespect by any jury. I bet if there even was a Trump supporter in the jury they’d be turned off by his behaviour.

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    10 months ago

    Wow, 3x the money in punitive damage. Imagine how bad it’d be if this country did anything but fine rich people for being evil…

    • Riccosuave@lemmy.worldOP
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      10 months ago

      I overshot the damages award in a previous comment I made. I thought it was going to be closer to $150 million, but $83 million is still substantial. Plus there is a strong likelihood E. Jean Carroll and Robbie Kaplan could sue Donald Trump for defamation again for all the things he posted during this trial.

        • Riccosuave@lemmy.worldOP
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          10 months ago

          It’s already happening. He’s probably defaming her on Truth Social right now while OD’ing on McDonald’s.

          • RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com
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            10 months ago

            He couldn’t shut up if his life depended on being quiet. I hope this drains his pockets until there’s nothing left.

            • ddh@lemmy.sdf.org
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              10 months ago

              I hope it’s draining Republican Party coffers, which it indirectly seems to be

          • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            That’s the beauty, his own sworn evidence that he brought in during the NY trial.
            This is where worlds collide, especially if the NY judge orders the dissolution of the companies in NY, all assets will need to be moved, I bet ms Carrol’s’ lawyers will be standing by the sideline to make sure she gets paid.

          • neidu2@feddit.nl
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            10 months ago

            I present to you the only proof that he’s a billionaire: He said so. That’s valid, right? Right? Guys? Anybody?

            • ddh@lemmy.sdf.org
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              10 months ago

              In the instance of the court setting damages, I’m happy to accept the highest valuation Trump has to offer

          • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            In late stage capitalism, having a billion and owing three billion means you in effect still have a billion.

            It’s not like with normal people who have to subtract debt from assets and actually pay what we owe.

            So yeah, he’s a billionaire in all ways that affect him and will be until he dies, which can’t happen soon enough.

    • admiralteal@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      Waiting for the SCOTUS to (again) reduce punitive damage limits in order to protect their special boy.

      Historically, they HATE punitive civil damages and look for cases to cut them back. That’s where the current ~4x limit currently exists, which even in the State Farm decision was clearly flagged as toeing the line.

      Just look at how little actual damage Exxon ever paid for the Valdez spill. Or McDonalds for the hot coffee. These punitive damages always have a habit of just evaporating after the headlines. Leaving the victim little better off than before.

    • mercano@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      It’s a civil case, unfortunately, so jail time was never an option. At the time the incident occurred, there was a five year statute of limitations, so Trump has never been charged criminally in the matter.

      • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        There’s something truly gross about a civil case being the only recourse for a heinous crime.

  • Snapz@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Fucking loser always loses.

    He’s demonstrably the actual biggest loser in history, and he just got more loser-y folks… If any of you are starting to have your memories fade, here’s a quick refresher to read this morning and then copy and send to your aunt karen in Missouri.

    • 0 re-elections won
    • 1 term president
    • 2 times impeached
    • 3 marriages
    • 4 inch lifts in his shoes
    • 5 kids, from 3 different mothers
    • 6 bankruptcies
    • 7 US Capitol police suing him for Jan 6 terrorist insurrection and murder of police
    • 8 trillion + dollars added to the US debt in a single term
    • 9 trump lawyers sanctioned by federal judge for lying in frivolous election fraud lawsuits and ordered to pay defendant’s legal fees
    • 10 years that trump paid $0 in income taxes between 2000 and 2015. ($0 to cops, teachers, roads, prisons, disaster relief, etc)
    • 11 trump associates charged with serious crimes over the past 5 years
    • 12 million votes (the big lie) - trump claims he won the 2020 election by 12 million votes when in reality, he lost by about 7 million votes.
    • 13 of August, 2021 - one of multiple days that trump was supposed to magically become president again according to Qanon and a crack addicted pillow salesman (the two most respected information sources in the gop)
    • 14 year old girl in a youth choir that trump approached in 1992 to say, “Wow! Just think - in a couple years I’ll be dating you.”
    • 15 originally confirmed cases of COVID in the US trump said would soon be, “down to close to zero.” followed by, “like a miracle, it will disappear.” - over 1,000,000 Americans have since died of COVID as it continues to kill years later.
    • 16 years old - age of daughter ivanka when she hosted “miss teen” pageant and, according to long time trump associate Noel Casler, “trump called her over in the middle of a rehearsal and had her give him a lap dance while he leered at the crew.”
    • 17 known trump and russia investigations from local, state and federal prosecutors
    • 18 gop senators that ignored trump threats / warnings and supported Biden admin’s infrastructure bill.
    • 19 as in COVID19 - trump was verified as the single largest source of disinformation on the virus, with a Cornell study claiming that 38% of the “misinformation conversation” originated with trump
    • 20 the day in January, 2021, when Biden was sworn in despite trump inciting a violent insurrection to stop election verification at the US Capitol.
    • 21 gun salute that trump ordered for himself when he left office after a humiliating defeat, even though he never served in the military, famously called military members “losers” and “suckers” and actively avoided the draft with a cowardly “bone spurs” excuse.
    • 22 date in August, 2021, when Alabama hate rally crowd booed trump for finally saying people should get vaccinated, only after 700,000 Americans have died due mostly to his failure as president
    • 23 as in wrestlemania 23 in 2007 where trump, a cartoon level failure with no other prospects, participated in a fake bet that a proxy wrestler would win a fake fight on his behalf or he would shave his wig and hair plugs off.
    • 24 day in August, 2021, when trump actually filed a lawsuit in Florida court against YouTube, a private company, demanding that they reinstate his YouTube channel like a desperate, irrelevant embarrassment with no platforms left to abuse.
    • 25 plus credible sexual assault allegations against trump, spanning decades and with accusers starting as young as 13 years old at time of assault.
      • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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        10 months ago

        The Liz Truss lettuce is tricky because while the lettuce only lasted 6 days, they didn’t start counting until 14/10/22 when she had been sworn in on 6/9/22.

        Technically a Mooch (11 or 10 days) is longer than a lettuce, but the lettuce measurement was artificially shortened. ;)

        Both are still longer than a Brittany Spears marriage at 55 hours.

  • twistypencil@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I’d be fine if he keeps doing this and Carroll just bleeds him and his supporters dry and she becomes mega rich

  • RedditReject@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    He wouldn’t have to pay anything if he could have kept his little anus mouth shut.

    I give it less than a day before he defames her again.

    • bmsok@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Oh my god his mouth actually DOES look like a butthole!

      Thank you for allowing my eyes to experience trauma in a whole new way today

    • papertowels@lemmy.one
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      10 months ago

      Right? All he had to do was be a decent human being, or barring that, at least pretend to not be a vindictive asshole.

  • ansiz@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    It’s complete insanity that neither party is using this case against Trump during the primaries. Especially Haley, it’s a gift wrapped opportunity for her to score points on Trump and she completely ignores it. Her campaign was a lost cause from the start but none of the Republican candidates have acted like they are even trying.

    • eran_morad@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Let me get this straight: you think the

      grab em by the pussy

      crowd is gonna give a flying shit?!?

    • 0110010001100010@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Erm, Haley is using this for her campaign:

      “Donald Trump wants to be the presumptive Republican nominee and we’re talking about $83 million in damages. We’re not talking about fixing the border. We’re not talking about tackling inflation,” Haley said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”

      Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4432630-haley-trump-defamation-verdict-america-can-do-better/

      • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        She’s not wrong that we can do better.

        She’s just wrong in assuming she is better.

        • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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          10 months ago

          I mean, I certainly don’t intended to vote for her over Biden, even considering my distaste for Biden, but I would say she is better than Trump from what I’ve seen. She seems more like “regular” republican evil primarily dangerous due to harmful policies, which is still plenty bad to be fair, but I don’t expect we’d be as likely to have her try a coup should she lose an election.

          • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            I’d take her over Trump for sure.

            But Biden over her, and like, fucking any other Democrat over Biden.

            But this is where we’re at, so I guess I’ll fall in line.

    • meco03211@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      They don’t know about it. Legit know someone that doesn’t know all the legal issues trump is currently going through. Lots of “if he committed a crime why hasn’t he been charged?” It was a bit surreal. All the witch hunt talk has saturated the conversation so they don’t even know official proceedings are fully underway. They think because he hasn’t actually paid the damages to E Jean Carrol it means he wasn’t found “guilty” (because they don’t understand the nuance between civil and criminal).

    • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      You think any news station Haley watches is even talking about this?

      Conservatives live in a bubble these days 100%.

      Any time they step outside of it the liberal “slant” of reality slaps them in the face.

      You know things like being forced to acknowledge and respect LGBTQ+ people…

  • TheJims@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    God sent Trump… to rape women and harass them relentlessly while encouraging others to threaten their lives. God be praised. Praise be to the rapist messiah.

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    10 months ago

    He’ll pay as much as Alex Jones has. Jack shit. Unless the court can forcibly remove the funds from their accounts or put them in prison until they pay, these fucks will do nothing.

    • kirklennon@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      Unless the court can forcibly remove the funds from their accounts

      Yes, the courts can and absolutely will, though not in this case, because he’s going to cough up the cash quickly (well as quickly as he can sell some stuff because there’s no way he has that much in liquid assets).

    • xtr0n@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      I want her to be able to put liens on all his properties. I doubt that can happen but it would be glorious.

    • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      He already paid the previous $5 million. Technically it’s in an escrow pending appeal, so Carroll doesn’t have it yet. But regardless, Trump is out $5 million.

      Now Trump has four choices:

      1. Pay the $83 million to Carroll

      2. File an appeal, which means either paying $83 million into an escrow account or putting a lien on his properties and getting a bank to pay $83 million into an escrow account. Either way, Carroll gets the money as soon as she wins the appeal

      3. Do nothing. This is the worst option, because after 30 days Carroll’s lawyers would start choosing Trump properties to auction off and/or directly withdrawing money from his bank accounts.

      4. Declare bankruptcy. This could introduce a delay, but it will inevitably result in Trump properties being auctioned off.

      • The_v@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Wouldn’t New York have a lien on most of his properties with their fraud case?

        I guess he will likely will try to appeal the amount and leverage another lein onto his properties. He could also use his grift money from the PAC’s to pay into the escrow.

        Of course his appeal will go swimmingly when he defames her again in 3… 2… 1…

        • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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          He can’t appeal the amount. He has to put the amount into escrow before he can appeal. That’s standard practice for courts, so that people don’t try to weasel out of paying. Trump isn’t the first person to lose a big lawsuit…

          If all of Trump’s properties are under lien and he has nothing left in his bank accounts, then that leaves option 4.

      • lemmefixdat4u@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Carroll may not be paid for years if Trump strings out the appeals. But to appeal, he has to either pay the entire award to the court first, or he can use an appeal bond - assuming any financial institution will give him one. His credit rating is questionable with all these trials hanging over his head. $83 million here, maybe $370 million there, unknown amounts in the documents and vote tampering cases. And nobody is actually sure how much he’s worth. The Trump brand is damaged goods.

        He’s under a financial microscope at the moment. He can’t reassign any assets until the two civil trials are completed and paid. Whether Carroll sees the entire award depends on the NY fraud outcome and what Trump’s assets are really worth. Maybe his cracker jack attorney will miss the 2 week appeal deadline, allowing Carroll to seize his liquid assets and put liens on Trump’s real estate holdings.