NEW YORK: Former US President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against writer E Jean Carroll, claiming she falsely accused him of rape after a recent jury verdict found him liable for sexually abusing her.
In May, a civil jury in New York ruled that Trump had sexually abused and defamed Carroll, a columnist, but did not rape her. Trump’s lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, specifically targets comments made by Carroll on CNN the day after the verdict. When asked about Trump’s liability for rape, she responded, “oh yes he did.” Trump’s counterclaim seeks a retraction of Carroll’s comment, along with unspecified compensation and punitive damages.
Carroll’s lawyer characterized the filing as an attempt to evade accountability for the verdict reached on May 9. Carroll has initiated two separate lawsuits against the former president. The first lawsuit, which recently went to trial, resulted in the jury holding Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a department store during the 1990s and defaming her when she went public with her allegations in 2019.
Donald Trump Requests New Trial
She was awarded nearly $5 million (£3.9 million) in damages. Trump is appealing the verdict and has requested a new trial. The second lawsuit focuses solely on defamation. Carroll amended it in response to Trump’s CNN comments, where he denied her allegations and made derogatory remarks about her. In this lawsuit, Carroll seeks an additional $10 million in damages related to Trump’s comments.
Trump’s latest filing serves as a counterclaim in the defamation lawsuit and suggests that the legal battle between the two parties will continue for the foreseeable future. The counterclaim alleges that Carroll made “false statements with actual malice and ill will” during her CNN interview when discussing the jury’s finding that Trump was not liable for rape. According to the claim, Carroll responded to the question by saying, “oh yes he did, oh yes he did.”
