Trump liable for sexual abuse

It was another very bad day for former President Donald Trump on Tuesday when a jury in Manhattan found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse in a civil suit, ordering him to dole out $5 million in damages.

Quick recap: The charges were brought by E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine advice columnist, who said in 2019 that Trump had raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump, for his part, denied the allegation and did not testify or show up in court.

The jury – made up of six men and three women – found that the former president sexual abused Carroll, now 79, but stopped short of finding him guilty of rape. Crucially, as this verdict is a civil case, Trump has not been convicted of a crime and does not face further penalties.

But this is hardly the end of the former president’s many legal woes. Importantly, Georgia prosecutors could reveal in the next few weeks whether they plan to charge Trump and allies in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Now that a jury has found Trump liable for sexual abuse, will the Republican Party distance themselves from their leading 2024 presidential candidate – or double down on his candidacy? If history is anything to go by, expect the latter.