Thank you, E. Jean Carroll

May 9, 2023

Who’s the “complete con job” now? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

May 9, 2023

Good evening, Meteor readers,

I’m coming to you live from Houston, Texas, where approximately five metric fucktons of water have poured from the heavens today.

But of course, that’s not today’s top headline: Trump has lost another court case and, thrillingly, a woman he abused has (finally!) gotten some measure of justice. We’ve got that story in today’s newsletter—as well as everything from feminist Pulitzers to trans romance.

Drenched yet overjoyed,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT’S GOING ON

Who’s the “complete con job” now?: After less than three hours of deliberation today, a jury unanimously found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and then defaming magazine writer E. Jean Carroll. Because this was a civil case, Trump faces no criminal consequences, but Carroll has been awarded about $5 million in damages.

Carroll had testified that in the mid-1990s, Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. At the time, fear of retaliation kept her from coming forward, but as she testified Thursday, the stories of the #MeToo movement made her realize that “staying silent does not work;” in 2019, while Trump was still president, she came forward with her story. Trump denied the charges, calling Carroll “a complete con job” and her story “a hoax”—claims for which he’s now been found guilty of defamation.

The two-week trial has itself been gutting—not just because of the details about the assault itself, but because of Carroll’s unflinching candor about the fallout from the attack (she hasn’t had sex since, she revealed in her deposition) and from coming forward against a president (the social-media backlash was swift). “It’s very hard to get up in the morning and receive those messages, that you are way too ugly to go on living,” she said. The jury also viewed a deposition taken in October in which, among other things, Trump claims Carroll enjoyed being sexually abused. (Content warning.)

The trial wasn’t a complete win; the jury did not find Trump liable for rape. But headlines saying he was found “not guilty” are getting it wrong, as Philip Gourevitch of The New Yorker pointed out on Twitter; civil courts don’t issue guilty verdicts at all, and this judgment simply means that “the charge was not proven to the jury’s satisfaction.”

Carroll—now 79—has thrown herself fully into this case, and the outcome could have huge ripple effects. First, on the presidential election, in which her assailant is still his party’s front-runner. And next, on society’s expectations of rape victims, who have often been dismissed if they don’t scream, or been judged for what they wear. Carroll’s calm dismissal of those biases (“he raped me, whether I screamed or not”) sends a powerful message to other survivors that they, too, may be believed.

And one last note: If Carroll had been assaulted in almost any other state, this trial may never have happened. She was only able to pursue legal action thanks to the 2022 passage of the Adult Survivors Act, which provides a one-year window during which sexual assault survivors can sue regardless of preexisting statutes of limitations. Such laws currently exist only in New York and California—but as this week proves, it’d be a good idea to pass them everywhere.

E. JEAN CARROLL LEAVES THE MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT FOLLOWING HER TRIAL (PHOTO BY STEPHANIE KEITH/GETTY IMAGES)

AND:

A gunman killed eight people at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, on Saturday. The shooter, a white supremacist with swastika tattoos, owned multiple guns, all of which were purchased legally. Of the eight victims, three were children; the youngest was 3-year old James Cho, whose parents were also killed. There have been over 200 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year—one, on average, every 16 hours. Take action here.

Also in Texas: In a surprise victory for gun reform, two Texas Republicans voted with Democrats Monday to pass HB 2744, which would raise the legal purchasing age for semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21, onto a full vote in the House. It’s hard to see such a small win as significant—but it is.

The livestreamed “Drag Isn’t Dangerous” telethon for LGBTQ charities raised over $500,000 on Sunday. ICYMI: Charlize Theron said she’ll “fuck anybody up who’s trying to fuck” with the queer community. Marcia Gay Harden revealed that all her children are queer. And Michelle Visage summed up the evening best: “Imagine a world where dancers are told they can’t dance; imagine a world where artists are told they cannot take paint to canvas…because it is ‘bad for children.’ That is what is happening to drag right now.” Watch the full livestream, donate to the cause, and enjoy.

In related news: Zooey Zephyr, Montana’s first openly trans elected official, got engaged to her girlfriend at a queer prom event on Friday! It was ridiculously romantic.

The WGA writer’s strike finishes its first full week today; by Parade’s count, 22 shows have already been taken off the air indefinitely, including favorites like Saturday Night Live, Abbott Elementary, Yellowjackets, and Stranger Things. Will studios let all of Hollywood close down just to avoid paying writers a fair wage? I guess we’ll find out!

Finally, can we take a moment to recognize some of the phenomenal journalists who earned Pulitzer Prizes yesterday for crucial reporting on the issues we care about? Congratulations to The Washington Post’s Caroline Kitchener, who covers abortion; The Atlantic’s Caitlin Dickerson, who blew the lid off family separation, and podcaster Connie Walker, who investigated residential schools (listen to them both on our podcast last year); and finally, Meteor collective member Mona Chalabi, honored for her New York Times illustrations. Brava!