Trump Rape Lawsuit: Carroll Verdicts, Appeals, and DOJ Inquiry

E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuits against Donald Trump are two federal civil cases in the Southern District of New York that produced jury verdicts of $5 million for sexual abuse and defamation in May 2023 and $83.3 million for defamation in January 2024. Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s and sued him after he publicly denied her account. Both verdicts have been affirmed by the Second Circuit, and as of mid-2026 no money has changed hands.

What Carroll Accused Trump Of

Carroll kept the account private for more than two decades. She first went public in June 2019, when New York magazine published an excerpt of her memoir, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.¹

She alleged she ran into Trump at the store’s entrance sometime around 1995 or 1996. After some banter about buying a gift, the two went to the lingerie department, where Trump directed her into a dressing room. Inside, Carroll said, Trump shoved her against a wall, pulled down her tights, and forced his fingers and then his penis into her vagina. She said she pushed him off and fled onto Fifth Avenue.¹

Carroll testified she told two friends within a day or two. Lisa Birnbach, a writer, said Carroll called her that evening and described being assaulted, and that she told Carroll, “He raped you.” Carol Martin, a television journalist, said Carroll came to her a day or two later appearing agitated and said, “Trump attacked me.” Martin said she advised Carroll not to go to the police because Trump had too many lawyers and “would bury her.”²

The Law That Made the Battery Suit Possible

Carroll’s ability to sue over a mid-1990s assault turned on a New York state law called the Adult Survivors Act. Signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, the act opened a one-year window, from November 24, 2022, to November 23, 2023, during which adult sexual assault survivors could file civil lawsuits regardless of when the assault happened or whether the statute of limitations had expired.³ It applied only in New York and only for that one year. Nearly 3,000 lawsuits were filed during the window.⁴ Carroll filed her battery and defamation suit against Trump on the first day it opened.⁵

The $5 Million Verdict: Carroll II

The case filed under the Adult Survivors Act, known in court records as Carroll II, went to trial in April and May 2023 before Judge Lewis Kaplan. It combined a battery claim for the mid-1990s assault with a defamation claim based on a Truth Social post Trump made on October 12, 2022, in which he called Carroll’s account “a Hoax and a lie,” said she “completely made up” the story, and declared, “This woman is not my type!”⁶

Carroll testified over roughly three days. Trump did not testify or attend; the defense used portions of his deposition, in which he called the accusations a “hoax.”⁷ Judge Kaplan allowed two other women to testify about separate alleged assaults: Jessica Leeds described an incident on an airplane in 1979, and Natasha Stoynoff described an incident at Mar-a-Lago in 2005. Both alleged forcible groping and kissing.⁸ Their testimony came in under Federal Rules of Evidence 413 and 415, which allow propensity evidence in civil cases involving sexual assault claims.⁶

The jury also heard the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump told television host Billy Bush he could “grab [women] by the pussy” because he was famous. The tape was played twice. In his deposition, Trump said the statements on the tape were “historically true” about what celebrities could do, though he called them “locker room talk.”⁷

After a nine-day trial, the jury deliberated under three hours before returning its verdict on May 9, 2023. It found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and for defaming her. The jury did not find Carroll had proven “rape” as defined by the New York Penal Law, which requires penile penetration. The total award was $5 million: $2 million in compensatory damages for the sexual abuse, $2.7 million in compensatory damages for defamation, and $280,000 in punitive damages for defamation.⁷

Judge Kaplan later clarified what the “not rape” finding meant. Denying Trump’s motion for a new trial, he wrote that the jury had “implicitly found that Mr. Trump deliberately and forcibly penetrated Ms. Carroll’s vagina with his fingers,” conduct most people would understand as rape even though it fell outside the narrow New York criminal statute.⁷

The $83.3 Million Verdict: Carroll I

Carroll had actually filed her first lawsuit against Trump earlier, in November 2019, over statements he made while president in June of that year. After Carroll’s book excerpt was published, Trump told reporters he had never met her, said her story “should be sold in the fiction section,” called her accusations false, and added: “She’s not my type.”⁶ This original case, Carroll I, was delayed for years by disputes over presidential immunity and whether the United States could substitute in as defendant under the Westfall Act. Trump raised presidential immunity, but Judge Kaplan rejected it in June 2023, writing that presidential immunity is “not a ‘get out of damages liability free’ card.” A Second Circuit panel agreed unanimously in December 2023, ruling Trump had waived the defense by waiting three years to raise it.⁹

Once the Carroll II jury found the abuse and defamation claims proven, Judge Kaplan granted partial summary judgment in Carroll I, ruling the 2019 statements were defamatory as a matter of law based on issue preclusion. The January 2024 trial was limited to damages.¹⁰

Trump was present in the courtroom during that trial but made disruptive comments, calling the proceedings a “witch hunt” and “con job,” prompting Judge Kaplan to warn him he could be removed.¹⁰ On January 26, 2024, the jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million: $11 million for a reputation repair program, $7.3 million in other compensatory damages, and $65 million in punitive damages.¹¹

The size of the punitive award reflected, in part, Trump’s continued public attacks. After the first verdict in May 2023, he appeared at a CNN town hall and called Carroll a “whack job,” said her story was “fake” and “made up,” and described the trial as a “rigged deal.”¹² The Second Circuit later noted that Trump continued making defamatory statements throughout the litigation, including during the Carroll I damages trial itself.¹⁰

Where the Appeals Stand

Both verdicts have survived the Second Circuit. On December 30, 2024, a unanimous panel affirmed the $5 million judgment, concluding the Leeds and Stoynoff testimony and the Access Hollywood tape were properly admitted under Rules 413 and 415 and that Trump had failed to show any claimed errors affected his substantial rights.⁶ The full court denied rehearing en banc on June 13, 2025, over two dissents.¹³

Trump then petitioned the Supreme Court (No. 25-573), raising questions about the admissibility of propensity evidence under Rules 413 and 415, the Access Hollywood tape under Rule 404(b), and the Rule 403 balancing of probative value against prejudice. Carroll’s attorneys urged denial, arguing Trump failed to challenge the Second Circuit’s alternative holding that any evidentiary error was harmless.¹⁴ As of late May 2026, the Court had rescheduled consideration of the petition at least 11 times without granting or denying it.¹⁵

The $83.3 million judgment was affirmed by a Second Circuit panel on September 8, 2025, which rejected Trump’s arguments about excessive damages, presidential immunity, and entitlement to a new trial. The panel called the “degree of reprehensibility” of Trump’s conduct “remarkably high, perhaps unprecedented.”¹⁶ The court denied rehearing en banc on April 29, 2026.¹⁷ Legal observers have suggested the Supreme Court may be holding the Carroll II petition while it waits for a certiorari petition in this case.¹⁸

In March 2024, Trump posted a $91.63 million bond, 110% of the $83.3 million judgment, through Federal Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Chubb Corporation. Judge Kaplan approved the bond and stayed enforcement of the damages pending appeal.¹⁹ As of mid-2026, Carroll has not collected any money from either verdict.¹¹

The DOJ Inquiry Into Carroll’s Legal Funding

In May 2026, CNN reported the Justice Department had opened a criminal inquiry connected to Carroll. Early framing suggested Carroll herself was a target. Within days, Andrew Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, issued a statement saying his office “has not opened — and has never opened — a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll.”²⁰

Later reporting clarified that the investigation focuses on American Future Republic, a nonprofit founded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman that partially funded Carroll’s legal expenses. A source familiar with DOJ operations told Axios Carroll “is not the subject of the investigation” and that characterizing it that way would be “inaccurate.”²¹

The probe stems from a discrepancy in Carroll’s testimony. In a 2022 deposition, she said no one else was paying her legal fees. Her attorneys later disclosed that Hoffman’s nonprofit had covered some expenses. Dmitri Mehlhorn, a former adviser to Hoffman, said the nonprofit had originally granted money to Kaplan Hecker & Fink for a different lawsuit; when the firm took on Carroll’s case, they requested to redirect the funds. Mehlhorn said the nonprofit had “no prior knowledge at the time of the original grant that our funding would go to support her case in particular.” The Second Circuit had previously addressed the issue, finding “no evidence to suggest that Ms. Carroll was personally involved in securing the funding” or that she was aware of the money’s source before her deposition.²¹

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney on the Carroll appeals, has recused himself from the matter.²² The case is reportedly being handled by William Hogan, the same prosecutor scrutinized in the unrelated “Broadview Six” case, in which a federal judge found prosecutors had engaged in misconduct before the grand jury, leading Boutros to drop all charges in May 2026.²³ Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have called for Boutros’s resignation, saying his office “has been riddled with chaos, deep internal dysfunction, and alleged misconduct.”²⁴

1
The New York Times. Trump-Carroll Trial Updates
2
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Safe Horizon. Jean Carroll and the Adult Survivors Act
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Justia. Carroll v. Trump, No. 23-793
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Temple Law Review. Evidence Advocacy and Carroll v. Trump
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NBC News. Federal Appeals Court Denies Trumps Presidential Immunity Defense
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KTVQ. Trump Disparages E. Jean Carroll After Jury Finds Him Liable
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U.S. Supreme Court. Brief in Opposition, No. 25-573
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SCOTUSblog. Court Puts Off Deciding Whether to Consider $5 Million Verdict Against Trump Yet Again
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PBS NewsHour. Appeals Court Upholds E. Jean Carrolls $83.3 Million Defamation Judgment Against Trump
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Steve Vladeck. The Two E. Jean Carroll Cases
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ABC News. Judge Approves Trumps Bond in E. Jean Carroll Defamation Case
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Capitol News Illinois. U.S. Attorney Acknowledges Speech to Broadview 6 Grand Jury