Stinging and expensive
A jury awarded $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll on Friday in a stinging and expensive rebuke to former President Donald Trump for his continued social media attacks against the longtime advice columnist over her claims that he sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store.
The award, when coupled with a $5 million sexual assault and defamation verdict last year from another jury in a case brought by Carroll, raised to $88.3 million what Trump must pay her. Protesting vigorously, he said he would appeal.
“Vigorously” is one word for it. I can think of others.
Carroll’s attorneys had requested $24 million in compensatory damages and “an unusually high punitive award.” The jury awarded $18.3 million in compensatory damages and another $65 million in punitive damages — meant to deter future behavior.
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, urged jurors in her closing argument Friday to punish Trump enough that he would stop a steady stream of public statements smearing Carroll as a liar and a “whack job.”
Will he stop? I really doubt it.
A couple of legal YouTubers I watch have today mentioned that another form of relief the plaintiff is seeking is injunctive relief, i. e., an order prohibiting DJT from continuing his defamatory claims. Personally, I doubt any amount of money would make him shut up, but orders to show cause for violating an injunction just might. Continued violations could move to criminal contempt, and criminal contempt could result in incarceration.
Trump is a walking pile of political garbage, and he should IMHO be tossed straight into the nearest garbage dump which has standards low enough to find him acceptable.
@maddog1129 – the thought of having a president who thinks he’s above the law should frighten Americans, but so many of them worry more about how the rest of the world sees us than who we really are. They support him even if they find him abhorrent because they don’t want anyone to think we are weak. It’s incredibly regressive. I just wonder how many of them would wear “WWTD” bracelets for their decision-making when it comes to their personal lives. You know, not pay their bills, take advantage of their celebrity status to sexually assault women, try to overthrow the government, encourage their children to be bullies…
@ Mike, #3
The people who support DJT are absolutely deluded about what “strong” is or looks like. DJT is a weak man, a coward, a dolt, and can be led by the nose so easily that it’s shocking. A vote for DJT is a vote for weakness, not a vote for strength.
Hmm. Yes and no. Morally, for sure. Intellectually ditto. But in other ways, not entirely. His popularity gives him a form of strength, one that lets him defy norms and bully his critics and get away with disgusting behavior.
Ironically, the rest of the world sees that. So many MAGAts think Putin is frightened of Trump because he is a strong man. Putin is the strong man, and he sees through Trump.
But Trump has managed to turn his cowardice and weakness into a strength, like Ophelia noted. Why? Because he is rich, because he hates the same people they do, because he runs his mouth without stopping to think, because he isn’t any more literate than a third grader. He doesn’t frighten his base, or intimidate them.
All that being so, especially #6: none the less, I am confident that DJT alias ‘Captain Bonespurs,’ (h/t John McCain) will never start WW3. Trump is too much of a narcissist. Could get hurt. And Putin, I am sure, is very happy to have him as POTUS.