Marianna Brady
Live reporter

We're ending our live coverage on the jury verdict in the civil rape case against former US president Donald Trump.

This live page was brought to you by Madeline Halpert, Nada Tawfik, Pratiksha Ghildial, Kayla Epstein, Holly Honderich, Anthony Zurcher, Brandon Livesay and Nadine Yousif.

Read more on this story here:

• The political fallout from Trump's sexual abuse verdict
• Jury finds Trump sexually abused E Jean Carroll

Thank you for joining us.

It's been a historic day as Donald Trump became the first former US president to be found liable for sexual abuse. Here's what happened today.

• A New York jury found that Trump sexually abused and defamed former columnist E Jean Carroll in a civil trial
• Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store nearly 30 years ago
• The jury did not find Trump liable for rape
• Trump was also found liable for defamation over claims from October 2022 that Carroll's accusation was "a hoax and a lie"
• In total, the jury ordered Trump to pay $5m (£4m) in damages to Carroll
• Trump's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said the ex-president will appeal the verdict
• Carroll's team hailed the verdict as a victory and said "today the world finally knows the truth"

Image source, Getty Images

E Jean Carroll has thanked her legal team and hailed the verdict as a "victory".

“I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth," Carroll said.

"This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed."

Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said that she is "thrilled" with today's outcome.

"E Jean Carroll has never wavered in her strength, courage, and determination to seek justice. Donald Trump, on the other hand, failed to even show up in court," Kaplan said.

"This is a victory not only for E Jean Carroll, but for democracy itself, and for all survivors everywhere.”

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

The standard of proof is lower in this civil case than what is required in a criminal trial.

Jurors simply needed to be convinced that it was more likely than not that Trump assaulted her, so ultimately it came down to who they believed more.

In concluding arguments, Carroll's attorneys convincingly explained why Carroll was trustworthy.

They cast Trump as a liar who could not be bothered to show up to the trial, while they noted 11 witnesses came to bolster Carroll’s story.

For the jury to find Trump had not raped Carroll, “you would have to conclude that Donald Trump, the non-stop liar, is the only person here telling the truth”, Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan told the court at one point.

We've been asking members of our voter panel their reaction to today's verdict.

Crystal from California says this is just another attempt to "make Trump look bad".

She voted for him in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Image source, Getty Images

We're now getting some reaction from Republicans on the verdict.

Senator John Thune from South Dakota said the outcome of the trial has a "cumulative effect" on how Trump is viewed within Republican circles as a candidate.

"People are gonna have to decide whether they want to deal with all the drama," Thune told CBS News.

Senator John Cornyn from Texas said that he doesn't believe Trump can get elected as the next US president in 2024.

"You can't win a general election with just your base," he said.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas and one of Trump's rivals in the Republican primary ahead of the 2024 election, said that the jury verdict should be treated with seriousness.

"It is another example of the indefensible behaviour of Donald Trump," Hutchinson said.

Holly Honderich
US reporter

The criminal statute of limitations for this case has long expired.

And typically, the statute of limitations for people to bring civil lawsuits over sexual assault in New York is three years, meaning it too has long lapsed.

But in 2022, New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, which allowed a one-year period for victims to file sexual assault lawsuits in the state over claims that would have otherwise exceeded statute limitations.

Carroll filed her lawsuit against Trump almost immediately after the law took effect.

Before this case, the writer had also sued Trump for defamation after he called her a liar following the publication of her memoir.

That lawsuit is currently stalled as courts debate whether there is a legal right to sue ex-presidents.

Kayla Epstein
US reporter

Image source, Monica Schipper/Getty Images

Carroll is not the only woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct.

Over two dozen women have come forward with accusations against Trump in recent years.

The alleged incidents stretched as far back as the 1970s, with accusations that Trump reached up their skirts, touched, or kissed them without their consent.

As he did with Carroll, Trump has denied all the allegations, and has claimed women who spoke out were lying or politically motivated.

Some of these women told their stories during the 2016 election. Jessica Leeds said that Trump had groped her without consent on an airplane in the 1970s.

Leeds appeared as a witness in Carroll's trial and told the jury that Trump "was trying to kiss me, trying to pull me towards him. He was grabbing my breasts. It was like he had 40 zillion hands. It was like a tussling match between the two of us.”

Rachel Crooks, who spoke to the New York Times, accused Trump of kissing her without permission during a Trump Tower encounter in 2005.

Jill Harth sued Trump for sexual harassment in 1997. She said that Trump pushed her against a wall, put his hand up her skirt, and forcibly kissed her.

But no woman has come close to earning $5m in damages from Trump for their alleged encounters, E Jean Carroll is the first.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Donald Trump's lawyer is speaking to the press.

Joe Tacopina calls the ruling “perplexing”.

There were “a lot of issues” with it, he said, including that the legal teams should have been able to know the identities of the jurors to assess potential biases.

Trump is "ready to move forward. He wants to fight this on appeal.”

When asked why Trump didn't testify, he doubled down on what he said in court.

Having Trump there would have been "more of a circus". "And what more can he say other than 'I didn't do it?'"

It won’t derail his run for president, Tacopina said.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

A jury of nine New Yorkers has concluded that it is more likely than not that Donald Trump sexually abused a woman in the 1990s.

While that may not make a dent in Trump’s base within the Republican Party, where his supporters view the US legal system with scepticism and have stood by him through all manners of adversity, it is a ruling that could sting if he wins the Republican nomination in 2024.

In the 2020 presidential election – as well as the 2018 and 2022 congressional midterms – many suburban voters, particularly women, recoiled from Trump’s brand of brash politics.

A finding that Trump sexually abused and defamed E Jean Carroll – as well as his belligerent performance during a taped deposition for the case – can only push those kinds of voters farther away from him.

Perhaps that will take a political toll on the former president’s re-election chances. At the very least, it is another historic first for a former president who already has one criminal indictment and possibly others to come.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

In the end, this case hinged on E Jean Carroll's credibility. Although the trial lasted two weeks, it only took about three hours for the jury to reach a verdict.

Some members of the nine-person jury may have largely decided they believed Carroll after hearing her testify about the assault in graphic and vivid detail.

The aggressive cross-examination of Carroll by Donald Trump’s lawyer may not have helped his case, according to legal experts. Over the course of two days, Joe Tacopina repeatedly pressed Carroll on how she acted, including why she did not scream during it.

“When it becomes so brash in tone, there is a point where it feels like you’re beating up on this witness personally,” said Kristy Greenberg, a former federal prosecutor in New York. “When you cross that line, I think that’s where you start to lose the jury.”

For the second count, the jury was asked if Carroll was able to prove that:

• Trump's statement was defamatory? Jury says YES.
• Trump's statement was false? Jury says YES.
• Trump made the statement with actual malice?Jury says YES.

• She was injured as a result of Trump's publication of the 12 October 2022 statement? Jury says YES.

Jury suggests Trump pay Carroll $280k in compensatory damages.

Jury determines Trump to pay Carroll $2.7m in punitive damages.

Let's go through each count, and how the jury ruled. For the first count, battery, the jury was asked if Carroll was able to prove that:

• Trump raped Carroll? Jury says NO.
• Trump sexually abused Carroll? Jury says YES.
• Carroll was injured as a result of Trump's conduct? Jury says YES.

Jury determines Trump to pay Carroll $2m to compensate her for those injuries.

• Trump's conduct was willfully or wantonly negligent, reckless, or done with a conscious disregard of the rights of Carroll? Jury says YES.

Jury determines Trump to pay Carroll $20k in punitive damages.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

After the verdict was read, Judge Lewis Kaplan spent several minutes thanking jurors for their work, saying they had been torn from their lives to come to court and reach a hard decision.

The identities of the nine-member jury were kept secret due to privacy concerns.

Kaplan said once the jurors left the courtroom, it was up to them to decide whether they continued to remain anonymous.

“My advice to you is not to identify yourselves, not now, and not for a long time,” he told them.

Kaplan said members were not allowed to reveal the identities of their fellow jurors.

“And with that, I discharge you,” he said.

A spokesperson for the former president has released a statement. It makes the common claim that there is a "witch hunt" against Trump by the Democratic party.

"Make no mistake, this entire bogus case is a political endeavor targeting President Trump because he is now an overwhelming front-runner to be once again elected President of the United States."

"The continued abuse of our great Constitution for political ends is disgusting and cannot be tolerated," the statement continues. "Our nation is in serious trouble when claims lacking any evidence or proof or eyewitnesses can invade our courts to score political points."

Trump's team have said they will appeal the verdict in this case.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Carroll was swarmed by reporters as she left the courtroom and smiled as she got into the car with her lawyers.

“We’re very happy,” her lawyer Roberta Kaplan said.

Image source, Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trump has just reacted to the verdict, posting an all-caps message on his Truth social media platform.

"I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!", the former president said.

The jury has awarded E Jean Carroll a total of $5m (£4m) in damages.

Trump must pay Carroll $3m (£2.4m) in damages for defamation, and a further $2m (£1.6m) for battery, which includes the sexual assault she told the court happened in the 1990s.

Because this is a civil case, Carroll was able to sue Trump for damages. Jail time for the former president was never on the table as it was not a criminal case.