Former President Donald Trump is countersuing E. Jean Carroll, alleging the ex-magazine columnist defamed him by accusing him of rape.
What You Need To Know
- Former President Donald Trump is countersuing E. Jean Carroll, alleging the ex-magazine columnist defamed him by accusing him of rape
- Last month, a federal jury in New York Trump liable of sexually abusing and defaming Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages; the jurors, however, did not find Trump liable of rape
- The former president’s counter claim argues that a jury concluded that rape “clearly was not committed” and points to rape allegations Carroll publicly made before and after the trial
- Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said, “Donald Trump again argues, contrary to both logic and fact, that he was exonerated by a jury that found that he sexually abused E Jean Carroll by forcibly inserting his fingers into her vagina.”
Last month, a federal jury in New York Trump liable of sexually abusing and defaming Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages. The jurors, however, did not find Trump liable of rape.
Carroll claimed Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. She did not make the allegation publicly until 2019, when she wrote about it in a book.
Trump responded by calling Carroll a liar and making disparaging remarks about her.
The former president’s counterclaim, filed late Tuesday night, argues that a jury concluded that rape “clearly was not committed” and points to rape allegations Carroll publicly made before and after the trial. Among them was an interview with CNN the day after the verdict in which Carroll was asked about the jury finding that Trump was not liable of raping her. She replied, “Oh yes he did, oh yes he did.”
In the interview, Carroll also said she told Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, on the way out of the courtroom: “He did it, and you know it.”
Carroll “made these false statements with actual malice and ill will with an intent to significantly and spitefully harm and attack Counterclaimant’s reputation, as these false statements were clearly contrary to the jury verdict,” the counterclaim says.
Carroll’s “repeated falsehoods and defamatory statements” against Trump, who is running for president again, have done “significant harm to his reputation, which, in turn, has yielded an inordinate amount of damages sustained as a result,” Trump’s lawyers say in the court filing.
In a statement emailed to Spectrum News on Wednesday, Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said, “Donald Trump again argues, contrary to both logic and fact, that he was exonerated by a jury that found that he sexually abused E Jean Carroll by forcibly inserting his fingers into her vagina.”
Kaplan said four of the five statements listed in Trump’s countersuit were made outside of New York’s one-year statute of limitations and the other “will not withstand a motion to dismiss.”
“Trump’s filing is thus nothing more than his latest effort to delay accountability for what a jury has already found to be his defamation of E Jean Carroll,” Kaplan said. “But whether he likes it or not, that accountability is coming very soon.”
Trump called last month’s verdict “disgusting” and has appealed. After the case, he continued to insist he had no idea who Carroll was and accused her of lying.
A separate defamation lawsuit by Carroll against Trump is scheduled to go to trial in January. Carroll amended that lawsuit to include Trump’s post-verdict comments.
That case had been stalled after Trump’s lawyers argued comments questioning Carroll’s credibility were made in his official role as president and should have been dismissed.
Trump’s countersuit was included in a filing responding to the new allegations.
The counterclaim asks for Carroll to be denied any damages related to the amended complaint, for Carroll to be ordered to retract her statements and for Trump to be awarded damages and legal fees.
