Donald Trump is now suing E. Jean Carroll for defamation, months after the former president was judged responsible for sexually assaulting and defaming her.
Carroll filed a lawsuit against the former president under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, alleging that he “forced her up against a dressing room wall, pinned her in place with his shoulder, and raped her” approximately 27 years ago in a fitting room at Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue in New York City. This lawsuit is the source of the ongoing conflict between Trump and Carroll.
In May, a Manhattan jury came to the conclusion that Carroll had been sexually abused rather than raped, which was the second-highest charge they could find. Their verdict did not establish guilt because it was a civil trial, and there were no subsequent criminal proceedings as a result. The jury did have the authority to compel Trump to compensate Carroll for defamation and sexual abuse with $2 million and $3 million, respectively.
Trump is now suing Carroll, claiming that she continued to allege the former president had raped her notwithstanding the ruling and “made these statements knowing each of them were false or with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity.”
According to the lawsuit, Carroll “disregarded the jury’s finding that Counterclaimant did not rape her, and replied: Oh yes he did, oh yes he did” in an interview given following the verdict. According to ABC News.
Trump’s lawsuit follows a judge’s decision that Carroll could amend her prior defamation complaint after the former president made a public appearance on CNN during primetime, just one day after he was ordered to pay her $3 million for defamation.
During a contentious town hall on the network, Trump labeled Carroll a “whack job,” once more asserting, “I never met this woman. I didn’t see this woman,’ and labeling her assertions “fake” and “made up.” (Though Trump claimed that the photograph of the two together was an accidential moment.)
A judge determined in June that Carroll could modify her initial slander lawsuit and now demand $10 million from Trump.
This is only the most recent in a long list of legal troubles for Trump, who earlier this month was indicted by a federal grand jury and has pled not guilty to all 37 of the charges against him.
One count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count of scheme to conceal, and one count of making false statements and representations are among the charges levied against the former president. There are also 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information (a violation of the Espionage Act).
A grand jury in New York indicted Donald Trump on charges related to an alleged $130,000 payment of hush money he allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 when he was running for president.
Please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) if you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, or visit rainn.org.
