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New York: A US jury has found that Donald Trump sexually assaulted but did not rape a prominent New York author and then defamed her when she went public with the attack.

In a blow to the former president’s campaign for re-election, Trump has been found liable for battery and defamation against author E Jean Carroll, who claims he attacked her in the lingerie dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.

In this image taken from video, former President Donald Trump answers questions during his October 19, 2022, deposition.Credit: Kaplan Hecker & Fink via AP

Carroll, now 79, has been awarded $US2.7 million ($3.99 million) in compensatory damages, as well as $US280,000 in punitive damages. Total damages awarded amount to about $US5 million.

Trump’s campaign said the former president will appeal the verdict in the civil trial, Reuters reported.

The finding, by a civil jury of six men and three women, is a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement that was set in motion by the sexual predation of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

It also marks the first time that Trump – who has been accused of sexual harassment or assault by more than a dozen women since the 1970s – has been held to account by a civil jury.

E. Jean Carroll arrives at Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday.Credit: AP

The former president, however, has consistently denied the claims, insisting Carroll’s allegation was a lie driven by politics and profits for a book she published in 2019. He also argues that he had “never met” Carroll and “she’s not my type”.

Trump was free to attend the trial but did not appear and the only expert witness he was planning to call, a psychiatrist, was withdrawn at the last minute over health issues.

But an hour before the jury began deliberating on Tuesday morning (US time), the former president claimed on his Truth Social website that he had been gagged and “will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!”

“Waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard-nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me,” he wrote.

At the time of the rape, Carroll was a well known in Manhattan’s media circles for her long-running “Ask E. Jean” advice column for Elle magazine. She claims the incident took place one evening when she bumped into Trump at Bergdorf Goodman, an upscale department store in Manhattan.

The jury heard that Trump asked her to help him pick out a present for another woman (he was married to Marla Maples at the time) and then assaulted her in a lingerie dressing room, where he allegedly knocked her head against a wall, pulled down her tights and briefly penetrated her before she pushed him off and ran out.

“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” Carroll had testified to the jury.

“He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back.”

Carroll’s legal team had called 10 other witnesses, including two women who claim they had also been attacked by Trump, two friends who claim that Carroll told them about the rape soon after it happened.

Trump, meanwhile, spent part of the trial overseas, visiting his golf course resorts in Scotland and Ireland.

At one point, he suggested he would fly back to New York to “confront” Carroll in the civil case against him – and was given an extension by the court to do so – but did not appear before closing arguments began on Monday.

In his absence, the jury relied on a video deposition from October last year, in which he was questioned by Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan about the case.

During the deposition, the president was asked about now infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which he was overheard bragging to TV host Billy Bush groping women without their consent.

“When you’re a star, they let you do it,” he said, unaware that there was a hot mic. “Grab ’em by the p—y. You can do anything.”

Asked by Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan if this was true, Trump replied: “Well, if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately – or fortunately.”

His claim that Carroll was not his “type” was also undercut when he mistook a photograph of his accuser for his second wife, Marla Maples.

“It’s Marla,” he said, before being told the blonde woman in the photo he was examining was Carroll. “Is that Carroll? Because it’s very blurry.”

Kaplan had used these inconsistencies – along with the testimonies of the other witnesses – to mount her case that Trump had a “modus operandi”: to flirt with women “in a friendly way”, kiss or group them without their consent, and then disparage them when they went public.

Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina, on the other hand, described the allegations as an “unbelievable work of fiction” and an “affront to justice”.

He pointed to gaps in Carroll’s evidence, such as the fact that she couldn’t remember the exact date, month or year she was assaulted, or that she did not report the attack to police or mention it until many years later, as signs that her allegation was a lie.

“It’s not a coincidence all them can’t narrow down the time frame because they don’t want to give Donald Trump the opportunity to present an alibi witness,” Tacopina told the jury.

Until recently, the statute of limitations for civil claims by sexual assault survivors in New York was generally three years. However, in 2021, the state passed the Adult Survivors Act, which created a one-year window – from November 24, 2022, to November 24, 2023 – in which the statute of limitations was lifted, allowing people to make claims.

Carroll did so after getting advice from prominent New York lawyer George Conway, an anti-Trump Republican who used to be married to the former president’s adviser Kellyann Conway.

Activists and sexual assault survivors hope the move will result in more women coming forward with allegations – particular against powerful men.

“When you’re raped by a person who was effectively a global brand, the fallout envelopes every aspect of your life,” said survivor Drew Dixon from the victim assistance organisation Safe Horizon.

“The sheer ubiquity of someone who is famous, powerful and super rich makes it almost impossible to move on.”

The jury began deliberating at around 11.50am on Tuesday and returned with a verdict within three hours.

Because trial is a civil case, the burden of proof is lower, and a verdict against Trump would not involve jail time. Carroll had sued for battery (in connection with the rape) .

She also sued for defamation, for which the jury had to decide if her claim of reputational damage was “clear and convincing” enough to warrant compensation.

Trump faces a number of court cases. On March 30 , he was indicted on 34 felony counts in a federal court case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The charges are related to the falsification of business records regarding hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to cover up allegations of extramarital sexual encounters.

Trump was forced to attend the Manhattan court personally for the arraignment, where he entered a not-guilty plea.

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