Events leading up to Donald Trump sexual abuse verdict
E. Jean Carroll exits the Manhattan Federal Court following the verdict in the civil rape accusation case against former U.S. President Donald Trump, in New York City, U.S., May 9, 2023. REUTERS
Here is a timeline of writer E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against Donald Trump that culminated on Tuesday with jurors finding that he sexually abused and defamed her and awarding her $5 million in damages.
June 2019 – E. Jean Carroll publishes an excerpt from her memoir, “What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal,” that includes the accusation Trump raped her in a New York department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
June 2019 – Then-President Trump denies Carroll’s accusations, telling a reporter at the White House with reference to Carroll: “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?”
November 2019 – Carroll sues Trump for defamation in a New York state court in Manhattan.
September 2020 – The U.S. Department of Justice moves the case to federal court, saying Trump spoke about Carroll in his official capacity as president, and the government should be substituted for Trump as the defendant.
October 2020 – U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan refuses to substitute the government as a defendant, saying Trump was not a government employee and his statements were not made within the scope of his job as president.
2021-September 2022 – Carroll’s lawsuit is largely on hold while Trump appeals Kaplan’s decision. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan hears the appeal in December 2021.
Sept. 20, 2022 – Carroll says she plans to sue Trump a second time for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, citing New York state’s new Adult Survivors Act. The law gives adults a one-year window starting on Nov. 24 to sue their alleged attackers, even if statutes of limitations have long since expired.
Sept. 27, 2022 – The 2nd Circuit agrees with Trump that he was a government employee when he first spoke about Carroll, but says it is unsure whether, under local laws of Washington, D.C., Trump had spoken in his capacity as president. It asks the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for guidance. That court schedules oral arguments for Jan. 10, 2023.
Oct. 12, 2022 – Trump repeats his denials of Carroll’s claims. On his Truth Social website, he calls the “Ms. Bergdorf Goodman case” a “complete con job,” a “hoax,” a “lie” and a “complete Scam,” and says he had not known Carroll and that she was “not my type!”
Oct. 19, 2022 – Trump is deposed in Carroll’s first lawsuit. He denies Carroll’s claims and calls her mentally ill.
Nov. 24, 2022 – Carroll files her second lawsuit, accusing Trump of defaming her in his Oct. 12 Truth Social post and accusing him of battery.
Feb. 15, 2023 – Kaplan rejects Trump’s offer to provide a DNA sample to compare against a dress Carroll said she wore on the day he raped her.
March 10, 2023 – Kaplan rejects Trump’s effort to exclude from trial a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape of him making graphic, vulgar comments about women, and testimony from two other women who allege he sexually assaulted them.
March 23, 2023 – Kaplan says jurors will be kept anonymous at the trial, citing the threat that Trump supporters and others may harass them.
March 28, 2023 – Kaplan rejects Trump’s request to throw out the defamation claim in Carroll’s second lawsuit. Trump had argued that he had been merely commenting about Carroll’s first lawsuit, making his comments protected speech.
April 13, 2023 – The D.C. Court of Appeals declines to decide whether Trump acted as president when discussing Carroll in June 2019, saying it did not have enough facts. It provides the 2nd Circuit appeals court with guidance on the applicable law.
April 17, 2023 – Kaplan rejects Trump’s bid to delay the April 25 trial, saying the alleged “prejudicial media coverage” was largely provoked by the former president.
April 20, 2023 – Kaplan says Trump need not attend the trial but rejects his effort to have jurors view his absence in a positive light by instructing them that it was meant to avoid logistical burdens. Trump had cited traffic and security concerns.
April 25, 2023 – Trial gets under way.
May 9, 2023 – Jurors deliberate for just under three hours before deciding Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll and awarding her $5 million in damages. Trump, campaigning to retake the White House in 2024, will appeal, says spokesman Steven Cheung.
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