Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct
E. Jean Carroll: Jury Finds Sexual Abuse and Defamation; $83.3 Million Damages
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, alleged Trump attacked her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in approximately 1996. Trump denied knowing her and described her as 'not my type.' The jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape, under the definition in New York law at the time) and defamation, awarding $5 million. In her first suit, over Trump's June 2019 denials, Judge Kaplan found Trump liable for defamation on summary judgment in September 2023, and in January 2024 a jury awarded $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages — one of the largest defamation awards in U.S. history. The Supreme Court declined to review the $5 million verdict on June 29, 2026 and denied rehearing on August 17, 2026; the Second Circuit rejected Trump's appeal of the $83.3 million award on September 8, 2025, and Trump, joined by the Justice Department, petitioned the Supreme Court in July 2026. Multiple other women made similar allegations; Trump denied all.