On Tuesday, May 8, a New York jury found former President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll. The 79-year-old writer sued Trump for allegedly sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and for defaming her when he denied the allegations last year.

The jury did not find Trump liable for rape based on the evidence presented during the high-profile trial, which also featured testimonies from other women claiming they were assaulted by the former president. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages after three hours of deliberation.

While Carroll has not yet publicly commented on the decision, her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, expressed satisfaction with the court's findings to reporters outside the courthouse.

Trump, who announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election last November, was far from pleased with the verdict. In a response via his Truth Social platform, he wrote, "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!" A representative for the former president later issued a brief statement, saying, "This case will be appealed, and we will ultimately win."

Throughout the legal proceedings, Trump consistently denied Carroll's accusations, calling her a liar and criticizing the judge presiding over the case as "extremely hostile." Earlier this month, he told reporters, "This woman is a disgrace and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen in our country."

In April, Trump dismissed Carroll's story as a "made up SCAM" and accused her attorney of being a "political operative." Judge Lewis Kaplan rebuked Trump's remarks, calling them "entirely inappropriate" and expressing concern that Trump was attempting to influence the public and the jury with his comments on social media during the trial.