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Trump’s comments about E. Jean Carroll caused up to $12.1 million in reputational damage, expert tells jury
It could cost as much as $12.1 million to repair the harm to the writer E. Jean Carroll’s reputation caused by a pair of defamatory statements former President Donald Trump made in 2019, a professor told a federal jury in New York on Thursday.
Thursday’s testimony by Northwestern University professor Ashlee Humphreys sought to quantify how many people saw and believed two statements Trump made denying he sexually assaulted, or had ever even met, Carroll. The judge overseeing Carroll’s suit against Trump has already determined the statements were defamatory, and the jury is tasked with determining what damages she should be awarded. A separate jury last year found Trump liable for sexual abuse and another defamatory statement.
Trump attended the first two days of the damages trial, but was not in the courtroom Thursday as Humphreys described how she quantified the harm done to Carroll. The former president was in Florida, attending his mother-in-law’s funeral.
In 2019, Carroll wrote a story in New York magazine accusing Trump of assaulting her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Trump vehemently denied the accusation. After coming forward, Carroll was the target of a torrent of criticism and graphic threats, including of rape and murder, some of which were displayed for the jury on Wednesday.
Humphreys said she calculated the harm to Carroll’s reputation by analyzing articles, tweets and TV broadcasts referencing both of Trump’s defamatory statements. She then determined how many people had seen the stories or segments on the same day they appeared. She concluded the damage to Carroll’s reputation as a journalist was “severe.”
She said there were as many as 104,132,285 impressions on those pieces on just the first day each was aired or published. As many as 24,788,657 viewers likely believed the claims, she said.
Humphreys said an analysis of comments made about Carroll before Trump’s defamatory statements showed she “was known as kind of a truth-teller, a sassy advice columnist.” Afterwards, Humphreys said she was perceived as “a liar, a Democratic operative.”
The cost of repairing Carroll’s reputation would range from $7.3 million to $12.1 million, Humphreys concluded.
Earlier Thursday, Carroll completed more than a day of testimony in the case. Under cross-examination, Trump attorney Alina Habba pointed out that there were celebrities who lauded Carroll after her trial victory over Trump in May 2023, when a jury awarded her $5 million. Habba asked Carroll if she’s more well-known now than before she first made her allegations.
“Yes, I’m more well-known, and I’m hated by a lot more people,” Carroll said.
Habba also displayed negative tweets that users posted during the five-hour period in 2019 between her allegations becoming public and Trump first commenting.
Under questioning by her own attorney, Roberta Kaplan, Carroll said that during that window she was the subject of mean tweets, but did not receive rape or death threats, and was not accused of being a Democratic operative working against Trump.
Kaplan also played a brief video clip of Trump repeating his denial of Carroll’s claims during a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday. Throughout the trial, Kaplan and other attorneys for Carroll have pointed to ongoing allegedly defamatory statements said by Trump, including in recent days, and indicated they want the jury to award more than just an amount needed to fix Carroll’s reputation.
They’ve said they want the jury to decide “how much money he should pay to get him to stop doing it.”
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One year after Oct. 7 attack, the toll on civilians remains high
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Open: This is “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Oct. 6, 2024
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Kamala Harris will speak with “60 Minutes” tomorrow. Here’s what to know for the interview.
Voters will get the chance to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday as she presents her case for why she should be president in a “60 Minutes” election special.
For decades, “60 Minutes” has featured both Republican and Democratic nominees for presidents, but this year, former President Donald Trump backed out after previously indicating he would be on the show. Correspondent Scott Pelley, who’d been set to interview Trump, will instead travel to Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of Arizona’s voters and a critical battleground in a key swing state.
One thing is certain about the election; with the U.S. deeply involved in both the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, whoever wins on Nov. 5 will become a wartime president.
What Harris will discuss
Israel’s war started one year ago after Hamas launched a surprise terror attack and correspondent Bill Whitaker will discuss the ongoing war with Harris.
Harris will also discuss the economy, immigration, her record as vice president and the differences between herself and Trump.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz will also appear.
Whitaker joined the Democratic ticket on the campaign trail this week to gain insight into their platform’s priorities and values, and what the candidates believe voters should know.
Why Trump pulled out of the “60 Minutes” interview
Leading up to the candidate hour, Trump, through campaign spokespeople, was the first candidate to accept the “60 Minutes” request to be interviewed for the special, according to CBS News. It had been agreed that both candidates would receive equal time during the broadcast.
Trump last sat down with 60 Minutes in 2020. He walked out during the interview with Lesley Stahl. Trump referenced the incident on Tuesday night at a Milwaukee press conference when asked about his decision not to participate in the Oct. 7 “60 Minutes” election special.
“Well, right now, I went to – they came to me and would like me to do an interview, but first I want to get an apology, because the last time I did an interview with them, if you remember, they challenged me on the computer,” Trump said. “They said the ‘laptop from hell’ was from Russia, and I said it wasn’t from Russia. It was from Hunter, and I never got an apology, so I’m sort of waiting. I’d love to do ’60 Minutes.’ I do everything.”
The Republican nominee for president emphasized that he felt he was owed an apology from “60 Minutes.”
“Let’s see if they do it. I wouldn’t mind doing 60,” Trump continued. “I’ve done ’60 Minutes’ a lot.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said that Trump’s team had not agreed to an interview.
“Fake News,” Cheung said in a post on X. “60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020. There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in. They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.”
Previous Trump, Harris appearances on 60 Minutes
Trump previously sat down with “60 Minutes'” Mike Wallace in 1985, Pelley in 2015 and Lesley Stahl twice in 2016, first in July of that year and then again in November of 2016. He also spoke with Stahl again in 2018 and 2020.
Harris previously sat down with Whitaker last year. She also was interviewed by Norah O’Donnell, “CBS Evening News” anchor and “60 Minutes” contributing correspondent, in 2020.