OAN’s Noah Herring
12:02 PM – Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Former President Donald Trump is suing writer E. Jean Carroll for defamation, claiming she falsely accused him of rape.
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Trump’s counterclaim against Carroll comes after a New York federal jury decided that he was not liable for rape but was liable for defamation and sexual abuse. Trump was ordered to pay $5 million, however, he asserted that he will appeal the ruling.
The 45th president is reportedly seeking a retraction of her claims as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. According to the former president’s legal team, E. Jean Carroll “wantonly and falsely” accused Trump on “multiple occasions of committing rape,” saying those claims “constitute defamation.”
Trump’s lawyers, Alina Habba and Michael Madaio, filed the lawsuit this week and claimed the rape “clearly was not committed,” pointing to the verdict of his case last month. They also claimed that “significant harm” was brought to Trump’s reputation through “repeated falsehoods and defamatory statements.”
When Carroll was questioned on CNN about the jury’s verdict finding Trump not guilty for rape, she replied, “Oh, yes he did.” Responding to the new lawsuit, 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.”
“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. But whether he likes it or not, that accountability is coming very soon,” she added.
Carroll has filed two defamation lawsuits against Trump. The former president’s counterclaim is in response to Carroll’s first lawsuit which has not yet reached trial. This most recent lawsuit includes comments Trump made about Carroll’s appearance and accusations of lying about the alleged rape.
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