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Which accusers have taken Donald Trump to court and what were their allegations?
Executive summary
Multiple women have taken legal action against Donald Trump; the most prominent civil litigation resulted in E. Jean Carroll obtaining a jury verdict finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarding damages (trial 2023, $5M ruling for sexual abuse; later larger defamation award noted in appeals reporting) [1] [2]. Other accusers have filed suits (for example, Summer Zervos sued for defamation after Trump publicly called her allegations lies; Jill Harth filed a 1997 suit alleging unwanted advances) and dozens more have made public allegations of harassment, groping or assault though not all resulted in court judgments [3] [4] [5].
1. The E. Jean Carroll cases: the clearest court outcome
E. Jean Carroll sued Donald Trump after publicly alleging he sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid‑1990s; she first made the allegation in 2019 and then sued him for defamation when he called her a liar. A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse and later awarded damages; appeals followed and Trump has sought Supreme Court review of those judgments [6] [1] [2] [7]. Reporting notes the trial admitted testimony from other women and the Access Hollywood tape as part of the evidence, and that appeals courts have upheld aspects of the rulings while further litigation continues [6] [7].
2. Defamation suits brought by accusers — Summer Zervos as an example
Some accusers pursued defamation claims after Trump publicly denounced them. Summer Zervos, an Apprentice contestant who alleged unwanted groping and kissing, sued Trump for defamation after he called her and other accusers liars; her case was filed in New York state court days before his inauguration [3] [5]. Trump’s legal team has argued presidential immunity or political‑speech defenses in response, a legal dispute covered in the reporting [5].
3. Earlier civil actions and allegations that reached court — Jill Harth and others
Journalism and timelines show that Jill Harth filed a lawsuit in 1997 alleging repeated unwanted sexual advances by Trump; contemporaneous and later reporting has documented other women who went to court or prepared complaints though outcomes and records vary [4] [8]. FactCheck and other outlets examined claims about payments to accusers and found no evidence supporting Trump’s assertion that “four or five women… got paid a lot of money” to fabricate allegations [8].
4. Criminal charges vs. civil suits: most public allegations did not become criminal prosecutions
Available reporting collected by outlets including The Guardian, The Independent and business and timeline pieces documents dozens of women who accused Trump of misconduct (groping, kissing, harassment, and in some accounts rape), but the sources show civil litigation — rather than criminal prosecution — has been the principal legal venue for many accusers; E. Jean Carroll’s civil verdict is cited as the most definitive court finding [9] [10] [5]. For some alleged incidents there were no contemporaneous police reports or criminal charges noted in these sources [2].
5. Scope of public accusations: dozens of women, varied allegations, varied legal outcomes
Compilations by outlets and encyclopedic summaries list roughly two dozen to nearly 30 women who have accused Trump of forms of sexual misconduct since the 1970s, ranging from non‑consensual kissing and groping to allegations of rape; these sources emphasize that Trump has denied all the allegations while media and legal attention varied by case [11] [9] [5]. Some recent reporting added additional named accusers and chronicled claims about incidents involving public figures like Jeffrey Epstein, but those are allegations reported by accusers rather than additional court judgments in the sources provided [9].
6. Disputes over evidence, chronology and motive highlighted by both sides
Trump and his lawyers have challenged accusers’ credibility and emphasized long delays to public disclosure, arguing political motives; news coverage of Trump’s appeals frames those legal arguments, including claims there were no eyewitnesses or surveillance footage in some cases [2] [12]. Journalistic and fact‑checking sources have pushed back on some of Trump’s broader claims — for example, there is "no evidence" that accusers were paid to fabricate stories — and have noted limits in the record [8] [4].
7. What reporting does not say clearly
Available sources do not provide a single, exhaustive list of which accusers sued and the dispositions for every named woman; some allegations never led to litigation or were publicly reported without subsequent court filings, and the sources here do not detail the legal status or outcomes for every person who has accused Trump [11] [9] [5]. In cases where the user seeks a complete ledger of plaintiffs and case outcomes, the reporting supplied is incomplete on that point.
Conclusion: Reporting shows several accusers brought civil suits (notably E. Jean Carroll, whose civil verdict found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation), other accusers like Summer Zervos filed defamation suits, earlier suits such as Jill Harth’s exist in the record, and many additional women publicly accused Trump though most allegations did not result in criminal convictions or widely reported judicial rulings in the sources provided [1] [3] [4] [5].