**BREAKING NEWS: E. Jean Carroll Secures $83.3 Million in Defamation Case Against Donald Trump**
**LOCATION:** United States District Court, Southern District of New York, Manhattan.
**TIMELINE:** January 26, 2024.
**SUBJECT:** Author and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.
**EVENT:** A federal jury has awarded journalist E. Jean Carroll a total of $83.3 million in damages in a defamation lawsuit against former President Donald J. Trump.
**JUSTIFICATION:** The verdict, delivered after approximately three hours of deliberation, stems from statements Mr. Trump made in June 2019 while denying Carroll’s allegation of sexual assault in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. The jury found the former president liable for defamation and awarded $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages. The ruling follows a separate trial in May 2023 where a jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million.
**AUTHORITY:** Judge Lewis A. Kaplan presided over the trial. Carroll’s legal team was led by attorney Roberta Kaplan, who argued that Mr. Trump’s continued denials constituted a pattern of targeted harassment. Mr. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and indicated an intention to appeal the verdict.