Trump Loses... "Must Pay $5 Million in Damages for Sexual Harassment, etc." (Update)

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Former U.S. President Donald Trump ultimately lost a civil lawsuit related to sexual assault allegations from 27 years ago.

According to The New York Times (NYT), on the 9th (local time), a jury at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York delivered a unanimous verdict after about three hours of deliberation, ordering Trump to pay a total of $5 million (approximately 6.6 billion KRW) in damages and punitive compensation.

The jury found that Trump did not sexually assault the plaintiff, E. Jean Carroll. However, they concluded that Trump sexually harassed Carroll by making unwanted sexual contact without her consent and defamed her reputation by denying the sexual assault allegations afterward.

Carroll had previously revealed in 2019 that Trump sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman store in the mid-1990s. After a special law suspending the statute of limitations for sex crimes was enacted in New York last November, she filed a lawsuit related to the incident. Immediately following the jury verdict, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, stating, "I have no idea who this woman is," and called the verdict "a disgraceful continuation of the greatest witch hunt in history."

However, this ruling is not expected to affect Trump's eligibility to run in the 2024 presidential election. The U.S. Constitution does not specify criminal charges or convictions as qualifications for the presidency, so even if a candidate is indicted or imprisoned for a crime, they can still run for president.

The Washington Post (WP) noted that separate from the sexual assault allegations, ongoing issues such as the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and incitement of the Capitol riot, for which Trump has not yet been indicted, could pose problems for his future presidential campaign. Federal law prohibits the destruction or removal of government records, and violations can result in disqualification from federal office.

If Trump is indicted and convicted regarding the classified documents leak, federal law could prevent him from running for president. Additionally, the Constitution prohibits anyone who has engaged in insurrection from holding any office in Congress, public service, private sector, or military, which could hinder Trump due to his role in inciting the Capitol riot.

There is also analysis suggesting that Trump may use this situation to rally his support base. WP stated, "Trump is not an ordinary politician," and predicted, "The legal investigations could support Trump's claim that he has been unfairly targeted by the Democratic administration and the ‘deep state’ bureaucracy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.