Trump must pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll, jury says
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Jury finds Trump must pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll

By Lauren del Valle, Jeremy Herb, Kara Scannell, Dan Berman and Elise Hammond, CNN

Updated 9:45 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024
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9:20 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

"She feels that she got justice from the jury today," E. Jean Carroll's attorney says

From CNN's Rob Frehse

 E. Jean Carroll is “overjoyed” and feels she got justice from the jury and court today, her attorney told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

 “I almost don’t have adjectives to describe it,” Roberta Kaplan said, when asked about how Carroll responded to the verdict. “She is overjoyed. She cried. She showed more emotion – and I’ve known her for a long time now – than I’ve ever seen her show.
“She feels that she got justice from the jury today and from the court. And she feels she really stood up, and she has, stood up for almost every woman who’s been defamed, who’s been kicked down, who’s been shut up,” she added.
“I think she feels she really played a part in making things better for women everywhere.”

She also told Cooper:

  • On Trump walking out during closing statements: “I think it hurt him terribly. I mean, our whole case is about the fact that Donald Trump is unable to follow the law, unable to follow the rules, he thinks they don’t apply to him. As bad as what he did to E. Jean Carroll was – and the sexual assault was terrible – and as horrifying as the defamation was back in 2019, the most amazing, shocking part of it all is that he kept on doing it and he kept on doing it even during the trial." 
  • On the size of the jury's award: "All he really understands is money and so you should award an amount of money that will make him stop. Whether that will succeed, I don’t know, I sure hope it will.”
  • On whether Trump will pay damages: “I think he’s gonna have to pay – and whether it requires him to sell something or to put a lien on something to get a loan, that’s his problem, not ours. He’s gonna pay, and Judge (Lewis) Kaplan, through judgment-enforcement mechanisms, will make sure that he pays. And indeed, even to take the appeal, he’s going to have to at least put up a bond of 20% of the amount.”

The post was updated with more of Roberta Kaplan's remarks in her interview with Anderson Cooper.

9:13 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

E. Jean Carroll says jury decision is "a huge defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down"

From CNN’s Kara Scannell

E. Jean Carroll leaves court on Friday.
E. Jean Carroll leaves court on Friday. Yuki Iwamura/AP

E. Jean Carroll praised her legal team and called the jury’s decision “a huge defeat" for anyone who has tried to keep down women.

“This is a great victory for every woman who stands up when she’s been knocked down, and a huge defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down,” Carroll said in the statement Friday evening.

Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, called the decision proof that the rule of law applies to everyone.

“Today’s verdict proves that the law applies to everyone in our country, even the rich, even the famous, even former presidents,” Kaplan said in a statement.
“There is a way to stand up to someone like Donald Trump, who cares more about wealth, fame and power than respecting the law,” Kaplan added. “Standing up to a bully takes courage and bravery; it takes someone like E. Jean Carroll. We thank the jury for standing up for E. Jean and the rule of law.”

Some background: The verdict, awarding Carroll $83.3 million, was the second time over the past year that a jury has awarded Carroll millions of dollars in damages from Trump for his defamatory statements disparaging her and denying her rape allegations.

But this verdict was on a whole different scale – awarding $65 million in punitive damages alone and a total dollar figure eight times higher than what Carroll initially sought in her lawsuit.

7:31 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

Haley calls out Trump for facing $83 million in damages in Carroll defamation case

From CNN's Ebony Davis

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley greets people at a campaign event in Hollis, New Hampshire, on January 18.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley greets people at a campaign event in Hollis, New Hampshire, on January 18. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Friday reacted to the $83.3 million jury verdict against Donald Trump in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial.

“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. America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Haley said in a post on X.

The verdict was the second time over the past year that a jury has awarded Carroll millions of dollars in damages from Trump for his defamatory statements disparaging her and denying her rape allegations. 

6:59 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

Biden sticks to strategy of saying nothing on Trump legal cases after E. Jean Carroll decision

From CNN's Arlette Saenz and Betsy Klein

President Joe Biden’s campaign and the White House have declined to comment after a Manhattan federal jury decided former President Donald Trump should pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll for public statements he made in 2019 disparaging her and denying her rape allegations. 

It’s similar to the approach his team has taken with Trump’s other legal cases, staying quiet to avoid any perception of political interference. They’ve shown no signs of shifting from that approach even as Biden has ramped up his criticism of his predecessor on the campaign trail. 

It highlights the careful balancing act Biden faces as he tries to paint Trump as an unfit leader and threat to democracy while avoiding specifically mentioning the legal cases that will be front and center in this year’s election.  

Biden surrogates: But Senator Chris Coons, one of Biden’s top allies and campaign co-chair did weigh in, saying the punitive damages in the civil case reflect the nature of Trump’s conduct.

Coons said Trump “learned nothing" after a May 2023 verdict that found Trump guilty of sexual abuse. He said Trump “only continued to attack and defame her and as a result is going to pay record damages."

The Democratic senator said that "tells you something about his character and his conduct.”

6:33 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

Will Carroll ever see the money? Here are key takeaways from Trump's defamation trial

From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell

A jury said that Donald Trump should pay $83.3 million in damages Friday, an eye-popping sum that marks the sharpest legal setback for a former president now entangled in multiple criminal and civil cases while he campaigns for the White House.

The verdict was the second time over the past year that a jury has awarded E. Jean Carroll millions of dollars in damages from Trump for his defamatory statements disparaging her and denying her rape allegations.

Here are the key takeaways from the defamation trial and verdict:

  • Another jury ruled against Trump: The nine-person jury awarded Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages. It was the punitive damages, however, that landed Carroll such an astronomical sum: $65 million. During the trial, Carroll’s lawyers told the jury that Trump should be punished with a large number in damages so that it gets him to stop his defamatory behavior.
  • Will Carroll ever see the money? There’s still a long road ahead before Carroll would see the money the jury awarded. Last year, the jury in the first defamation trial awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in damages after finding that Trump sexually abused Carroll and then defamed her in 2022. That verdict is still being appealed, and Trump within minutes of Friday’s verdict declared he will appeal this one as well. Trump set aside $5.5 million to a court-controlled account last year in a step toward satisfying the judgment from the defamation lawsuit, though, Carroll would not have access to the funds until after all appeals, including potentially to the US Supreme Court, are satisfied.
  • Trump walked out of court: Carroll’s attorney was just minutes into her closing argument Friday when Trump got up and walked out of the courtroom. Trump remained outside of court until after the break and it was his attorney Alina Habba’s turn to make her case to the jury. The walkout was one last act of defiance for a former president during the defamation trial, after he was admonished at several points both for speaking audibly from the defense table and for going beyond the tightly controlled, three-minute testimony he was permitted to give on Thursday.
  • Carroll proved to the jury she suffered harm from Trump's defamatory statements: It didn’t take the jury long to return a verdict against Trump, with deliberations lasting less than three hours. Carroll's attorney Shawn Crowley argued Trump’s statements about Carroll to this day are “dripping with malice, with hate." Trump’s attorney argued that Carroll would have received hateful messages when she wrote her story no matter what Trump said. The jury disagreed.
  • Judge repeatedly admonished Trump's attorney: Judge Kaplan had little patience for Habba or Trump during Friday’s closing arguments, admonishing the former president’s lawyer repeatedly and at one point warning she could spend time “in the lock-up.” The judge’s annoyance with Trump’s attorneys is a pattern that has played out across his two fall civil trials where his lawyers have tried to push the envelope — and is one that’s likely to continue should any of Trump’s criminal cases head to trial this year.

Catch up on what else this verdict means for Trump.

5:52 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

Trump's team will "immediately appeal" $83.3 million verdict, lawyer says

From CNN's Rob Frehse

Alina Habba, Donald Trump's attorney, speaks outside the courthouse after the verdict on Friday.
Alina Habba, Donald Trump's attorney, speaks outside the courthouse after the verdict on Friday. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Donald Trump's legal team will "immediately appeal" the verdict issued by a jury ordering the former president to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages, one of his lawyers said Friday.

In remarks outside the courthouse, attorney Alina Habba brushed off what she called a “ridiculous jury” decision.

Habba also criticized the judge, saying he wasn't allowed any defense in front of the jury.

“We were stripped of every defense, every single defense before we walked in there and I am proud to stand with President Trump because he showed up, he stood up, he took the stand and he faced this judge,” Habba said.
5:28 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

Here's what happened in the courtroom before the verdict was read

From CNN’s Jeff Winter in the courtroom

Before Judge Lewis Kaplan entered the courtroom for the verdict, Donald Trump's attorney Alina Habba hugged E. Jean Carroll's attorney Shawn Crowley.

Habba then spoke in a friendly manner with Crowley and Carroll’s other attorney Roberta Kaplan. Trump was not in the courtroom, having left in his motorcade at around 4 p.m. ET.

After the verdict sheet was given to the judge — but before it was read in full — the judge asked the jury foreperson, “What does the 'M' mean?”

The foreperson answered, “Million.”

Carroll and Kaplan held hands at their table as the verdict was read, with Kaplan on her right and Crowley on her left.

After the verdict was read, Carroll stood, holding hands with Crowley and Kaplan.

Afterward, the judge advised the jurors to never disclose they were on this jury.

5:03 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

Trump blasts verdict: "Absolutely ridiculous!"

From CNN's Kate Sullivan

Former President Donald Trump on Friday blasted the verdict reached by a jury ordering him to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in defamation damages and said he would appeal the decision. 

Trump posted this on Truth Social:

"Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!"

6:27 p.m. ET, January 26, 2024

Carroll hugged her lawyers after the verdict was read

From CNN's Lauren del Valle 

E. Jean Carroll hugs her team after the verdict was read Friday, in this courtroom sketch.
E. Jean Carroll hugs her team after the verdict was read Friday, in this courtroom sketch. Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

After the verdict was read Friday, E. Jean Carroll was in a group hug with her lawyers Shawn Crowley and Roberta Kaplan – and then was in a receiving line hugging her other attorneys.

After adjourning, CNN producer Lauren del Valle heard an audible gasp that sounded like a sob as she hugged her attorneys, although she was not sure that gasp came from Carroll.

Everyone has left the courtroom.