E. Jean Carroll says she’s ‘overwhelmed with joy’ for women in US after verdict in Trump case

by Julia Mueller - 05/10/23 8:27 AM ET

Writer E. Jean Carroll on Wednesday said she’s “overwhelmed with joy” for women in the U.S. after a jury found former President Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against her.

“I’m overwhelmed, overwhelmed with joy and happiness and delight for the women in this country,” Carroll said in an appearance on NBC News’S “TODAY.”

A jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll in the 1990s and that he then defamed her when he denied her claims. They found he did not commit rape but ordered he pay Carroll $5 million in damages.

Carroll said she “didn’t even hear the money” when the jury returned with that dollar figure.

“This is not about the money. This is about getting my name back, and that’s what we accomplished,” she said, adding that her lawyer had to tell her later what the jury had awarded.

Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said there’s “no question” the jury was sending a message with the findings and damages.

“Here’s the thing. Here’s the astonishing thing about his win yesterday,” Carroll said. “Of all the cases that this man faces, all the legal quagmires … all the prosecutors, all the special counsel, all the investigators, and what happened yesterday is one 5-foot-[9] little blond wily female attorney … and one 79-year-old advice columnist beat Donald Trump in court.”

Trump has bashed the case as part of a perceived “political witch hunt” against him.

The case is one of a number of legal entanglements faced by the former president. Trump also faces criminal charges for falsifying business records in Manhattan, two special counsel investigations from the Justice Department into his handling of classified documents and his actions around the 2020 transfer of power, as well as a probe in Georgia over attempts to interfere with the state’s 2020 election.

“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” Carroll testified during the trial. “He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back.” The writer came forward publicly in 2019, but then-president Trump denied her story and claimed she made it up to sell a book.