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E Jean Carroll said she was “overwhelmed with joy for the women in this country” after a jury found former US president Donald Trump sexually abused her, in a civil trial over her allegation that he raped her in a New York department store in 1996.
“I’m overwhelmed, overwhelmed with joy and happiness and delight for the women in this country,” the writer and former Elle magazine columnist told NBC’s Today on Wednesday, a day after the verdict was handed down in Manhattan.
Also found to have defamed Ms Carroll, if not to have raped her, Mr Trump was ordered to pay around $5 million in damages.
Ms Carroll said: “I didn’t even hear the money. This is not about the money. This is about getting my name back, and that’s what we accomplished.”
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Mr Trump responded angrily to the verdict and said he would appeal. Ms Carroll appeared on NBC with her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan.
In court, under cross-examination, Ms Carroll explained why she did not report the assault at the time, instead swearing friends to secrecy and trying to cope, for years, with the devastating effect on her life.
On NBC, she said her case had “demolished” the concept of the “perfect victim” in cases of rape and sexual assault.
“Before yesterday there was a concept of the perfect victim,” she said. “The perfect victim always screams, always reports to the police, always makes note when it happened, and then her life is supposed to ... fold up and she’s never sort of supposed to be happy again.
[ Key moments in Donald Trump trial that gripped the US ]
“And yesterday we demolished that all concept. It is gone. It is gone. And I am overwhelmed with happiness for the women of the country. It’s really not about me so much. It’s about every woman.”
Discussing Mr Trump’s deposition, in which, among many startling moments, he stood by his claims about grabbing women without consent and mistook Carroll for his second wife, Ms Kaplan said: “He made admissions where he was basically a witness against himself ... Who uses the word ‘fortunately’ to talk about sexual assault?”
Regarding the Access Hollywood tape, which emerged in 2016 and in which Mr Trump bragged about grabbing women, Trump was asked: if it was true he grabbed women’s genitals.
[ Will sexual abuse verdict impact Donald Trump’s polling numbers in Republican primary? ]
He said: “Well, if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.”
Ms Kaplan said: “The jury saw on our side 11 witnesses who took this stand day after day including E Jean for more than two days, under oath and told the truth. On the other hand, [Trump] didn’t even bother to show up and in his deposition he made admissions where he was basically a witness against himself.”
Ms Carroll also discussed what she said to Joe Tacopina, Trump’s lawyer, at the end of the trial on Tuesday.
“He came over to congratulate me,” she said. “He put out his hand, and I said, ‘He did it and you know it.’ And then we shook hands and I passed by, so I got my chance to say it.”
Outside court, Mr Tacopina said he was “in one sense gratified”, because Mr Trump was not found to have raped Carroll.
“I know some people in [Trump’s] camp are very happy that the rape claim was rejected,” Mr Tacopina said. “I’m not happy that he was found liable for anything.”
Ms Kaplan said Mr Trump “was found liable of a very serious charge and sexual abuse under New York law is very serious and the jury found that that’s what he did.
“And this was a defamation case. It started as a defamation case, and the jury found that Donald Trump lied.”
Ms Kaplan also pointed to how the jury took just two and a half hours to decide the case, which she said showed “lightning speed”. Mr Tacopina said there were “plenty of reasons to appeal”.
Ms Kaplan said she was sure she would be able to collect the $5 million in damages. – Guardian