Turnabout Is Fair Play? Donald Trump Is Countersuing E. Jean Carroll for Defamation
If you thought the E. Jean Carroll chapter of former President Donald Trump’s legal saga was closed (or at least coming to a close), you’d be mistaken. It isn’t just that Trump has moved for a new trial in the litigation that resulted in a $5 million jury verdict against him for sexual abuse and defamation. While the post-trial activity on that case continues to be sorted out, Carroll’s other lawsuit against Trump remains pending, and now, he’s filed a counterclaim against her for defamation.
To unpack this a bit further, the suit that went to trial in May was actually the second suit filed by Carroll against Trump (in 2022). In that one, filed in federal court in New York, Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her by accusing her of inventing the story in statements made after his presidency. As we reported, the jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse/battery (but not rape) and for defamation.
Carroll first filed suit against Trump in 2019. In that case, she sued solely for defamation, after Trump, in response to her publishing an article and book in which she claimed that Trump sexually assaulted her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City in 1995 or 1996, denied the alleged assault and asserted Carroll wasn’t his “type.” The catch there is that the statements in question were made while Trump was President of the United States. Consequently, the Department of Justice attempted to intervene in the case, asserting that it should be substituted as a defendant since Trump was acting in his official capacity when the statements were made. The judge initially denied that motion, which was then appealed and, without getting too deep into the weeds of it all, has since been remanded back to the trial judge to make a factual determination as to whether Trump was acting in his official capacity when he made the statements. Meanwhile, the DOJ has since signaled it might be reconsidering its position (go figure). The DOJ has until July 13th to advise the court as to its intentions.
With me so far? After the verdict in the second case, Carroll sought — and was granted — leave to amend her pleadings in the first case to incorporate the findings from that verdict and to include Trump’s comments to Kaitlan Collins on the CNN town hall that aired the day after the verdict. Trump objected to the amendment, asserting that “he would suffer ‘extreme prejudice’ if Carroll were allowed to ‘retrofit’ her original lawsuit by substituting ‘sexual assault’ for ‘rape’ 71 times.” The judge allowed the amendment and denied Trump’s request to dismiss the suit based on the jury’s finding (in the second case) that he had not raped her.
Now, Trump has filed a counterclaim in that (first) case against Carroll for defamation, based on her accusing him of raping her in her CNN appearance following the trial of the second case.
Trump filed the counterclaim on Tuesday that alleged that Carroll defamed him when she accused him of raping her during an appearance on CNN on May 10, which is just a day after a nine-member jury found that Trump did not commit rape. According to the counterclaim, Trump alleged that Carroll defamed him when she said, “oh yes he did, oh yes he did,” in response to an interview question on CNN asking for her thoughts on the jury’s ruling that Trump was not liable for rape.
The counterclaim states that Carroll made “these false statements with actual malice and ill will with an intent to significantly and spitefully harm and attack.” According to the filing, Trump “has been the subject of significant harm to his reputation, which, in turn, has yielded an inordinate amount of damages sustained as a result.”
Trump’s lawyers argued that Carroll’s comments on CNN were made on multiple platforms to make sure they reached a large audience.
“The interview was on television, social media and multiple internet websites, with the intention of broadcasting and circulating these defamatory statements among a significant portion of the public,” Trump’s lawyers argued in the filing.
Ready for the Reader’s Digest version?
- Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019 over comments he made about her (and her accusations) in 2019.
- Carroll sued Trump for defamation and rape/sexual abuse in 2022 over comments he made about her (and her accusations) in 2022.
- The 2022 lawsuit went to trial, and in May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape) and defamation.
- The next day, Carroll told CNN (and others) that Trump did, in fact, rape her (despite the jury’s finding).
- The next night, Trump told CNN that Carroll’s story was made-up and that she was a whack job.
- Carroll amended her claim in the (still-pending) 2019 suit to substitute “sexual abuse” for “rape” and to include Trump’s CNN comments.
- Trump has now filed a counterclaim in the 2019 suit over Carroll’s CNN comments that he raped her.
- Oh — and the DOJ, which previously claimed it should be substituted for Trump in the 2019 suit, is now scrambling to distance itself from it.
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