E. Gene Carroll exits Manhattan federal court following the verdict in the civil rape allegations against former President Donald Trump in New York City on May 9, 2023.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
A federal judge dismissed Thursday donald trumpA motion to dismiss an original civil defamation lawsuit filed by writer E. Jean Carroll, who alleges the former president was defamed for accusing him of sexual assault.
Judge Louis Kaplan said in federal district court in Manhattan that Trump’s request to dismiss the lawsuit was “unfounded.”
the subsequent judgment A series of recent developments In the long-running legal battle between Trump and Carroll, Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and decades later when she made her story public. claims to have slandered her.
Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney and independent of the judge, said in a statement that the ruling showed that Trump’s defense of the defamation claim was “not working.”
“Trump chose to relinquish his presidential privilege, but now must accept the consequences of that decision,” the attorney said.
“We disagree with the court’s decision and will take appropriate steps to preserve all viable defenses,” Trump’s attorney Alina Hubba said in a statement to CNBC.
Two days earlier, President Trump counterclaim She also sued Carol in the same case, accusing her of defamation for continuing to publicly say that he had raped her.
His counterclaim points to multiple statements by Carroll, including comments made by Carroll the day after a jury in another related civil case was sentenced. Trump was to blame for sexually abusing and defaming Carol.
But the jury that ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in damages in a May 9 verdict did not find Trump guilty of rape charges. When asked about that finding by her jury in a CNN interview, Carroll replied, “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Trump’s lawyers had moved to dismiss the first lawsuit in December. He claimed he had “absolute immunity” for making the offending remarks during his presidency. Lawyers also argued that Carroll’s defamation claims did not meet legal standards.
Kaplan was unwavering in his 46-page verdict Thursday afternoon. “Trump has not identified any connection between the defamatory content of his remarks and the president’s official responsibility, nor can the court see any connection,” he said. wrote.
Carroll filed his first defamation lawsuit against Trump in 2019, when he was still president. After a description of her sexual assault appeared in New York Magazine, President Trump repeatedly denied the allegations, at one point saying, “She’s not my type.”
Carroll filed a second civil suit against Trump in 2022. The day after the case’s verdict was reversed, Trump lashed out at Carroll on CNN’s live Town Hall event, again denying her allegations.
Shortly thereafter, Carol fix In her first lawsuit, she filed a complaint seeking more than $10 million in monetary damages, including President Trump’s latest comments. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial on January 15, 2024.
