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Writer Who Accused Trump of Rape to File New Defamation Lawsuit

E. Jean Carroll, whose first defamation lawsuit faced challenges because Donald J. Trump was then the president, will sue him again over similar statements he made after leaving office.

E. Jean Carroll, seen through a window as she walks down a sidewalk, wearing a red jacket, and a white surgical mask.
E. Jean Carroll’s new defamation lawsuit stems from statements the former president made about her on his social media platform.Credit...Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times

When the writer E. Jean Carroll three years ago accused President Donald J. Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room, he denied having assaulted her and branded her a liar.

Ms. Carroll sued Mr. Trump for defamation, claiming his statements had harmed her reputation. Mr. Trump and the Justice Department pushed back, arguing that he made his comments in his official capacity as president — which for legal reasons meant Ms. Carroll’s lawsuit would have to be dismissed.

But Mr. Trump is no longer president. And on Thursday, Ms. Carroll’s lawyer said in a court filing that her client would bring a new defamation lawsuit against Mr. Trump, this time based on statements he made last month in a social media post that accused Ms. Carroll of lying, and labeled her case “a complete con job.”

Ms. Carroll’s new lawsuit, according to the filing, will also include a claim of battery against Mr. Trump under a new state law, the Adult Survivors Act, which gives adult sexual assault victims a one-time window to file civil lawsuits, even if the statute of limitation expired years earlier.

Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, said in the court papers that the new lawsuit will be filed on Nov. 24, the start of the period in which the law allows suits under the Adult Survivors Act to be brought. The court papers included a copy of the lawsuit, which is to be filed in a week in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Ms. Kaplan also asked the judge that the new suit be tried with Ms. Carroll’s original case, the one she filed in 2019. Ms. Kaplan proposed that the trial be held April 10.

Late Thursday, Alina Habba, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said in a statement: “Typical gamesmanship from Roberta Kaplan. This filing is completely inappropriate and we will take up this issue with the court.”

Ms. Kaplan declined to comment on Ms. Habba’s statement.

The jockeying over Ms. Carroll’s case is the latest twist in a complex fight that is playing out in three courts.

Ms. Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, said in a 2019 book and excerpt in New York magazine that Mr. Trump had raped her after they encountered each other at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury department store on Fifth Avenue. She said he threw her against a wall, pulled down her tights, opened his pants and forced himself upon her.

Mr. Trump, responding to the allegation, said Ms. Carroll was “totally lying.” He said he had never met her, denied any assault had occurred and said he could not have raped her because she was not his “type.”

Ms. Carroll filed her defamation lawsuit in state court in New York, but in September 2020, the Justice Department abruptly intervened on Mr. Trump’s behalf, citing a law protecting federal employees from lawsuits arising out of their official duties.

The department, then led by Attorney General William P. Barr, assumed Mr. Trump’s legal defense, transferred the case into federal court and tried to make the United States the defendant. That move, if upheld, would likely result in the lawsuit’s dismissal, as the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.

A federal judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, rejected the department’s attempt to intervene in the case, ruling in October 2020 that Mr. Trump was not performing his official duties when he made his statements about Ms. Carroll.

On Sept. 27, a federal appeals panel in New York referred that question to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, since Mr. Trump had made his statements in Washington.

The court in Washington has scheduled oral argument for Jan. 10 in that case, while Ms. Carroll’s lawsuit before Judge Kaplan in Manhattan continues to move forward. Last month, Mr. Trump sat for a sworn deposition at Mar-a-Lago, his residence and private club in Florida.

Benjamin Weiser is a reporter covering the Manhattan federal courts. He has long covered criminal justice, both as a beat and investigative reporter. Before joining The Times in 1997, he worked at The Washington Post. More about Benjamin Weiser

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 19 of the New York edition with the headline: Writer to File New Suit Against Trump. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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