【By Observer Net, Lin Chenli】In May 2023, U.S. President Trump was found guilty of sexual assault and defamation against writer Carol and ordered to pay $5 million in damages. Since then, he has repeatedly appealed to overturn the verdict, but all have failed. According to CNN, on November 10th, local time, Trump once again requested the U.S. Supreme Court to re-examine the case.

In 2023, at the age of 79, well-known former columnist of the fashion magazine ELLE, Carol, filed a charge against Trump, claiming that Trump "raped her in a dressing room at a department store in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996." She also believed that Trump had claimed in 2022 that this statement was "a complete fraud" and implied that she fabricated the story to promote her new book, which constituted defamation.

In May 2023, a jury in the U.S. federal court in New York ruled that Trump was guilty of sexual assault and defamation, ordering him to pay $2.02 million for sexual assault and $2.98 million for defamation. According to state law, the establishment of a sexual assault charge must prove forced sexual contact, while the charge of rape requires proof of forced sexual intercourse. The jury concluded that Carol could prove that Trump committed "forced touch" and "sexual assault," but there was insufficient evidence to prove that Trump committed rape.

Regarding this verdict, Trump's side immediately appealed. Trump stated in a post that the jury's ruling was "a complete disgrace," calling it "the continuation of the biggest political persecution in history," and continued to emphasize that he "had no idea who this woman was."

As the case only provided indirect evidence from Carol's testimony with her friend and similar experiences of other female accusers, without providing the exact date of the incident, and lacking physical DNA evidence, video surveillance, and third-party witnesses, it caused widespread controversy. Some comments questioned Carol's accusations against multiple men but only suing Trump, suggesting it was a "political witch hunt" aimed at "interfering with the election."

Last December 30th, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge did not make errors sufficient to warrant a retrial, upholding the previous jury's verdict, finding Trump guilty of sexual assault and defamation, requiring him to pay $5 million in damages, and rejecting his request for a retrial. In June this year, Trump tried to have the appellate court's full panel review the case, but it ended in failure.

On January 26, 2024, Carol left the U.S. federal court in Manhattan, New York, after the civil defamation trial against Trump. CNN

On local time November 10th, Trump again stated that the judge presiding over the trial, Kaplan (Lewis Kaplan), made multiple errors in rulings, including allowing two other women who claimed they were sexually assaulted by Trump to testify.

Trump's lawyers also said that the judge should not have allowed the jury to watch audio clips from the show "Inside Hollywood." This clip recorded Trump in 2005 saying that he would randomly touch and kiss women when the microphone was not turned off.

In the appeal submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court on October 10th, Trump stated, "This case has no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police reports or investigation records. Carol opposed Trump politically, and her false accusation delayed for more than 20 years until he became the 45th president of the United States, at which time she could cause the maximum political harm to him and gain the greatest benefit for herself."

It is reported that Trump has requested the appellate court's full panel to review the case. The U.S. Department of Justice submitted an amicus brief supporting the review of whether presidential immunity can "exempt civil liability based on official acts." Carol needs to submit a response in the coming weeks. The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet officially registered the case.

The report points out that whether the Supreme Court will accept the case remains to be seen, but it is likely not the first time the justices will be asked to review litigation related to Carol.

Last January, a U.S. federal jury in Manhattan also ruled on Trump's defamation lawsuit, ordering Trump to pay Carol $83.3 million in damages, citing that Trump publicly demeaned Carol in 2019 and denied her allegations of sexual assault. Trump also appealed this judgment.

The federal appeals court panel upheld this damage award, stating that "given the special and egregious facts of this case, the amount of compensation is reasonable," and rejected several legal defenses raised by Trump. Among them, the appellate court determined that Trump had previously waived any claim of presidential immunity and stated that the Supreme Court's recent decision on criminal cases did not change this view.

Carol's photo, from left to right, are Trump, Carol, John Johnson (Carol's ex-husband), and Ivana Trump. CNN

As early as 2019, Carol had written that Trump had "raped her in the fall of 1995 or the spring of 1996." According to Carol, Trump lured her into the changing room under the pretense of helping another woman pick out clothes, and then raped her. She also said that due to the long time that had passed, she did not remember the exact date or year when the incident occurred.

Trump subsequently firmly denied the accusation. He said he had never met Carol and stated, "She's not my type," and that "there were no photos, no surveillance footage, no reports," and "nothing happened." He also accused Carol of promoting her new book and hinted that the Democrats were involved in the matter.

Before Carol, 18 women had accused Trump of sexual misconduct, including Trump's ex-wife Ivana Trump. Trump has consistently denied all allegations of "inappropriate sexual behavior" and stated, "All the women who accused him are lying."

It is reported that Carol was born in 1943 and became "Miss Indiana University" during her studies at Indiana University in 1963, winning the American cheerleading championship in 1964 as a cheerleader. Later, she became a contributing writer for magazines such as ELLE and Playboy and had her own show on NBC.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7571276470472000000/

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