Trump Sexually Abused E. Jean Carroll, Jury Finds

NEW YORK CITY — Former President Donald Trump was found liable for the sexual abuse of advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who will receive $5 million in a judgment.

But jurors in Manhattan federal court Tuesday also rejected Carroll's accusation that raped her in a luxury department store during the 1990s.

Still, the unanimous verdict that Trump sexually abused Carroll is likely to dog the former president as he mounts a campaign to reclaim the White House. Jurors also found Trump defamed Carroll when he posted a statement that her case was "a complete con job" and "a Hoax and a lie," the New York Times first reported.

Trump posted a furious, all-caps reaction on his Truth Social site after the verdict.

"I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS," he wrote. "THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!"

The civil lawsuit didn't carry any criminal penalty, but nonetheless drew attention as it centered around rape accusations against a former president.

Carroll, 79, testified that Trump raped her inside a dressing room after what was at first a lighthearted encounter in 1996. Her attorney Roberta Kaplan brought Trump's comments about sexual assault from the 2005 "Access Hollywood" into evidence.

"In a very real sense, Donald Trump is a witness against himself," Kaplan said during the trial. "He knows what he did. He knows that he sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.