E. Jean Carroll jury just delivered a big 'message' to Trump with its verdict: expert

A legal expert said Friday that the jury in Donald Trump's defamation trial wanted to deliver a very clear message when it hit him with a massive amount of damages.

The former president was ordered to pay $83.3 million after a civil jury sided with writer E. Jean Carroll as her lawyers described how the former president defamed her. Of that, $65 million was in punitive damages, which are meant to punish the defendant.

The substantial amount comes after Carroll had already been awarded damages of $5 million in an earlier defamation and sexual abuse trial last year.

In Friday's decision, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig believes the amount they came to — far greater than the $10 million her legal team initially sought — was intentionally high to send a strong message.

"This is a massive number, far in excess of anything I think anyone really expected —18 times the amount of the verdict in the first trial. ... [Her] lawyers explicitly asked the jury to send a message and that is what they have done," he said during an appearance on CNN's "The Lead" with Jake Tapper minutes after the verdict was reported.

Honig continued: “$60 million in punitive damages — that is a message to a person who essentially the jury says we don't think you can be deterred for anything less than this massive amount of money."

Trump has already vowed he will appeal.

"Absolutely ridiculous," he posted on Truth Social. "I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!"

His attorney Alina Habba also appeared before a scrum of reporters saying "there was no proof" and complained that her "experts were denied".

"We are seeing a violation of our justice system," she said.

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Honig also pointed out that, historically, Trump's success legally in the Empire State has been touch and go.

"The broad notion is that New York juries are not friendly to [former] President Trump, I think that's pretty clear," he said.

The sexual assault revelations came during Trump’s presidency when Carroll, now 80, claimed she was in a dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman in 1996 when he attacked her.

She claims Trump since went on to publicly defame her, telling reporters “She’s not my type” and “Totally lying. I don’t know anything about her." “I know nothing about this woman. I know nothing about her. She is — it’s just a terrible thing that people can make statements like that.”

The latest trial involved defamatory comments he made while president, and are separate from the comments he was found liable for in his first trial. The judge had already found him liable the second time, and the jury was solely considering damages.

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President Donald Trump's latest "particularly creepy" move alarmed a psychologist over the weekend.

Dr. John Gartner, a psychologist and psychotherapist, discussed the Trump administration's decision to unfurl a massive banner with Trump's face on the Department of Justice building on a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" with Joanna Coles. Gartner argued that the banner is another sign that Trump is slipping further into the grips of dementia and may be experiencing a phenomenon known as "sundowning." He noted Trump's seemingly disinhibited behavior and his inability to control his sleep schedule.

Putting the banners on the Department of Justice is just another notch in that belt of disinhibited behavior, Garnet argued.

"He has very little intellectual curiosity, very little capacity to concentrate, very little interest in anything, and anything having to do with the country," Gartner said. "He's only interested in himself, aggrandizing himself, and putting his name on things, his picture on things."

"But the Justice Department makes it particularly creepy because, of course, he's persecuting his enemies and shielding his friends and taking their name out of the Epstein files," Gartner added. "And so, Big Brother's Justice Department. Justice is what Big Brother says it is."


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A lawyer was floored on Sunday as he discussed how the GOP's scheme to ignore the deposition of a potential co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein's backfired on the president.

Last week, the House Oversight Committee held a nearly five-hour deposition of Leslie Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria's Secret. Not a single Republican attended the deposition hearing, where Wexner denied any involvement in Epstein's crimes and argued that he was "conned" out of the nearly $200 million that he paid Epstein for real estate and tax services throughout their relationship.

Wexner's name also appears on a document released by the Department of Justice listing him as a potential co-conspirator of Epstein's, according to reports. Wexner has denied any wrongdoing.

Former Florida state attorney Dave Aronberg discussed how the GOP's attempt to downplay the deposition backfired on the party during an interview on the "All Rise News" podcast with Adam Klasfeld on Sunday.

"This is a story that just has legs because of Trump and their drip, drip, drip instead of just ripping the band-aid off," Aronberg said. " ... It's a self-inflicted wound, and the more they try to conceal and redact, the more interest people have in this. So, I am not surprised that we are here talking about this because it only seems to be getting worse."

Wexner's deposition also appeared to undercut some key claims about Epstein that President Donald Trump has made, like that nobody knew who Epstein was until after he died.

"It's hard to say that Jeffrey Epstein was just a normal finance guy and no one knew about his secret life," Aronberg said. "There was no secret life. That's who Jeffrey Epstein was. Donald Trump said so in New York magazine, where he said, 'He likes to have fun as much as I do. He likes him on the young side.' Well, that's what everyone knew about Jeffrey Epstein at the time because he walked around openly and notoriously with a harem."

FBI Director Kash Patel found himself in hot water on Sunday after he made a post on social media that undercut a claim his agency made about his travel to the Olympic Games in Milan.

Last Thursday, NBC News reported that Patel planned to travel to Milan to watch the US men's hockey team play in the gold medal game against Canada. Ben Williamson, a spokesperson for Patel's agency, said on X that NBC News' report included a "false" theory that Patel was traveling to the game on the taxpayers' dime and demanded that the outlet correct the story.

That explanation seemed plausible until Sunday, when Patel posted pictures and video of himself in the locker room with the hockey team after they won the game. A video of Patel chugging beer with the team was also posted on Sunday night.

"Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created," Patel wrote on X.

Patel's post left analysts awestruck. They shared their reactions on social media.

"Pretty amazing that comms person at FBI called my @ms.now colleague @kendilanian-nbc.bsky.social a liar and demand a correction only for Kash to post a photo from the locker room," Catherine Rampell, economic editor at The Bulwark, posted on Bluesky.

"They just don't care and lie to everyone's face," political consultant Zak Williams posted on Bluesky.

"Look at this loser glomming onto their victory like he had anything to do with it," Krystall Ball, co-host of "Breaking Points," posted on X. "This man is the living embodiment of mediocrity and your tax dollars are paying for this humiliating display."

"You can only imagine the reaction from the GOP and Fox if this was a FBI director under Obama or Biden," Mehdi Hasan, founder of Zeteo News, posted on X. "What is he doing there? At taxpayer expense??"

"So embarrassing," national security lawyer Mark Zaid posted on X. "This type of conduct was tons of fun back in my college fraternity days (or maybe if part of the actual winning Olympic team). I grew out of it to become a professional."

"A source sent me this video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the US Men's Olympic Hockey team," ProPublica reporter William Turton posted on X.

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