In an interview this Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” writer E. Jean Carroll suggested using proceeds from the verdict in the recent trial covering defamation claims that she brought against Donald Trump to support others who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
Carroll originally did the same, and her account was largely upheld by a (civil) jury at an earlier trial. Her successful defamation claims covered Trump’s antagonistic responses to Carroll’s account of Trump targeting her in the 1990s. The second trial only handled the question of financial penalties to impose on Trump after the judge established liability, meaning a level of responsibility formally implicating Trump and upholding Carroll’s additional defamation allegations. Trump’s total in financial penalties stemming from the two successive trials is near $90 million, including $5 million from the first proceedings and over $83 million from the more recent conclusions of another jury.
Speaking with host George Stephanopoulos, Carroll said she was interested in using the money from penalties on something directly at odds with the ex-president, suggesting “perhaps a fund for the women who have been sexually assaulted by Donald Trump.” He has faced accusations of misconduct — sometimes seemingly bolstered by his own commentary, like the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape — throughout his stint in politics, none of which has massively shaken conservatives’ support.
Throughout the second trial stemming from Carroll’s claims, Trump and his legal team were relatively at odds with presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan. The judge chastised the Trump team a series of times, redirecting their handling of questioning, threatening Trump with expulsion from the courtroom for disruptive behavior, and demanding procedural deference. Attorney Alina Habba, for instance, kicked off some of the proceedings with renewed demands for a delay ostensibly allowing Trump to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral despite the judge’s earlier rejection. (Trump wasn’t obligated to attend trial at all despite trying to align its scheduling to his wishes.) Trump also kept up a campaign of antagonizing Carroll in public remarks, including online, throughout the proceedings.
