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What were the specific allegations in E. Jean Carroll's 1990s assault claim against Donald Trump?
Executive summary
E. Jean Carroll told jurors she was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s — an encounter the 2023 civil jury found to be sexual abuse but not rape under New York law — and that Trump later defamed her by publicly denying the allegation; a $5 million abuse verdict and later defamation awards were upheld on appeal before Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case [1] [2] [3].
1. The core allegation: a dressing-room attack in mid-1990s Manhattan
Carroll’s specific claim, as presented at trial, is that in the spring of 1996 she encountered Donald Trump in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman and that what began as a seemingly friendly meeting became a violent sexual attack in the dressing room; she described this incident as occurring in the mid-1990s when she first went public with her account in 2019 [1] [4] [5].
2. What the jury found — sexual abuse but not criminal rape under New York law
A New York jury in 2023 concluded, by the civil preponderance standard, that Trump was liable for sexual abuse for Carroll’s account of the Bergdorf encounter; the jury was instructed on three possible categories under New York law (rape, sexual abuse, forcible touching) and explicitly declined to find him liable for rape while finding liability for a lesser form of sexual battery [5] [2] [6].
3. The defamation element: statements after she went public
Carroll sued a second time (and amended claims) over statements Trump made after she publicly accused him, alleging he defamed her by calling the allegation a hoax and accusing her of lying to sell books or for political motives; juries awarded damages for defamation as well, including a larger later award that was separately appealed [7] [4] [8].
4. Evidence presented at trial and disputed items
Carroll’s team offered testimony, including her own account, and the trial judge admitted two other women who said Trump committed similar sexual misconduct in other decades; jurors also heard the 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump describes groping women, which his lawyers later argued prejudiced the case — courts that reviewed the trial rejected those arguments and found the evidentiary rulings were within permissible bounds [6] [7] [2].
5. Defense position and later appeals
Trump has consistently denied Carroll’s allegations, calling them false and politically motivated, and he challenged many trial rulings as improper — including admission of other-witness testimony and the Access Hollywood tape — arguing those rulings “propped up” the verdict; his legal team petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court after the Second Circuit affirmed the $5 million verdict [9] [10] [11].
6. Limitations in available reporting and what’s not in these sources
Available sources summarize the jury findings and appellate posture but do not provide verbatim testimony excerpts or a full evidentiary record in these summaries; they also do not settle contested factual minutiae beyond the jury’s civil finding — for example, detailed contemporaneous medical, police, or store records are not described in the cited reports [3] [6]. If you want the trial transcript, police records, or the full evidentiary appendix, those items are not found in the current reporting cited here [5].
7. Competing narratives and implicit agendas to note
News outlets and Trump’s petition frame the case differently: court coverage and Carroll’s lawyers present the verdicts as affirmations of her account and the jury process, while Trump’s filings and allied outlets call the proceedings “politically motivated” or a “travesty,” arguing evidentiary rulings inflamed jurors; readers should note both legal argumentation (aimed at reversal) and political rhetoric (aimed at public opinion) inform modern descriptions of these civil judgments [10] [12] [13].
8. What the Supreme Court filing changed about public focus
The move to seek Supreme Court review shifted attention from factual dispute to legal questions about trial procedure and admissibility of propensity evidence, with Trump’s petition arguing the trial’s evidentiary choices were so flawed as to require reversal — appellate courts to date have disagreed, but the petition marks a next legal stage and keeps the factual controversy in public view [9] [6] [7].
If you want, I can pull direct quotes from the trial coverage (what Carroll testified, what the other witnesses said, and the judge’s jury instructions) as summarized by these outlets or assemble a timeline of filings and appeals using the same sources.