A jury has already determined that Donald Trump sexually abused E Jean Carroll in the 1990s, then defamed her by lying that it never happened.
Now the former Elle magazine columnist says she has been branded “a fraud and a whack job” by the same man, who appeared in a federal courtroom in New York City on Wednesday to watch her testimony during a second defamation trial stemming from her allegations against the former president.
“I’m here because I was assaulted by Donald Trump and when I wrote about it, he said it never happened,” she testified.
“He lied,” she said. “And he shattered my reputation.”
Mr Trump, who also watched opening arguments in the case on Tuesday, sat with his attorneys at the defence table as he watched her testimony during the trial’s second day.
Asked by her attorney how Mr Trump’s remarks have damaged her career, she said: “People don’t write to an advice columnist that’s being attacked like this.”
A jury will determine monetary damages owed to Ms Carroll, whom Mr Trump repeatedly defamed by calling her a liar and denying that he sexually assaulted her. Ms Carroll is seeking $10m in compensatory damages and punitive damages.
The facts in the case have already been established; Mr Trump is barred from disputing that he sexually abused her, and a judge’s pretrial ruling has found him liable for defamation, leaving a narrow trial to determine how much he should pay, if anything.
The trial is the second stemming from defamation claims brought by Ms Carroll. Last year, a jury found him civilly responsible for sexual abuse and awarded her $5m. The second trial stems from similarly defamatory remarks about Ms Carroll while he was still in the White House.
Despite the defamation claims against him, he continues to claim that he never met her and has repeatedly mocked and ridiculed Ms Carroll in the wake of that verdict.
In opening arguments on Tuesday, Ms Carroll’s legal team asked the jury to consider not just an appropriate amount Mr Trump owes for his defamation, but how much is necessary to make him stop.
“Think carefully about what exactly Donald Trump did here,” attorney Shawn Crowley told jurors. “It’s time to make him pay, dearly, for what he’s done.”
The former president has baselessly cast the trial – among a growing list of legal challenges, including criminal charges and lawsuits that threaten his eligibility for 2024 ballots and his ability to do business in the state of New York – as part of a conspiracy from Democratic officials and President Joe Biden to keep him out of the White House.
As he arrived at the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, he unleashed 30 posts on his Truth Social platform repeating the same false claims at the centre of the defamation cases against him.
This is a developing story
