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that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996 and awarded her $5 million for battery and defamation.

Carroll alleged Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn’t his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book. Trump denied all wrongdoing. He does not face any jail time as a result of the civil verdict.

While the jury found that Trump sexually abused her, sufficient to hold him liable for battery, the jury did not find that Carroll proved he raped her.

Carroll filed the lawsuit last November under the “New York State Adult Survivors Act,” a state bill which opened a look-back window for sexual assault allegations like Carroll’s with long-expired statutes of limitation.

Trump did not attend the trial. Like any defendant in a civil case, he was not required to appear in court for trial or any proceedings and has a right not to testify in his own defense.

Carroll left the courthouse after the verdict without speaking to reporters.

Trump, on his social media site Truth Social, called the jury’s verdict a “total disgrace” and said it was “continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.” He repeated his claim he did not know who Carroll was.

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The verdict comes as the 2024 Republican presidential primary field takes shape, with Trump as the early frontrunner.

His potential rivals, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have so far criticized Trump on electability grounds but have stayed away from the former president’s legal troubles – including Carroll’s allegations and the Manhattan probe into a hush money scheme.

That reluctance to attack Trump over allegations stems from his ability to survive scandals that would have doomed most politicians – including the 2016 release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he bragged that stars can “do anything” to women.

But as his legal troubles mount, with probes in New York, Washington, DC, and Georgia still underway and primary debates set to begin in August, Trump’s goodwill with GOP voters will again be tested in the coming months.

Jurors urged not to identify themselves

Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed the jury after the verdict and informed them they are now allowed to identify themselves publicly if they choose. However, the judge suggested they remain silent.