Donald Trump Sues E Jean Carroll for Defamation After Jury Found Him Guilty of Sexually Abusing Her

Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of sexual assault that some readers may find distressing.

Former President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against E Jean Carroll, alleging that she falsely accused him of rape after a jury in a civil trial determined that he sexually assaulted her.

Following a jury's judgment in May that he sexually assaulted and disparaged Carroll but did not conclude that he raped her, Trump filed a complaint against Carroll in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, citing her comments on the CNN cable news channel after the verdict. In the protracted legal dispute between the former US president and the New York writer, Trump is requesting a retraction as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

According to The Guardian, Trump's petition indicates that his multi-front legal battle with Carroll is unlikely to come to a swift conclusion. In May, Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, amended the first of her two cases against Trump and requested an additional $10 million in damages, citing his denials made on the day after the verdict during an appearance on CNN. On Tuesday, Trump's legal team requested the federal court judge to deny Carroll's revised defamation claim.

Trump's move, according to Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan, is "nothing more than his latest effort to delay accountability" for the jury's decision, per Reuters. "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," Kaplan stated.

Trump has denied assaulting Carroll and is currently leading his Republican rivals in the race to win the White House in 2024. He is contesting the civil judgment that ordered him to pay $5 million in damages. Carroll testified that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department shop in New York City in the mid-1990s and then destroyed her reputation by labeling her a liar after she came forward in 2019.

Carroll reportedly received $2 million in damages for sexual assault and $3 million for defamation because of Trump's social media posts denying meeting Carroll. The verdict in this lawsuit is the first time Trump has been subjected to legal repercussions following decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct involving many women.

The new filings are part of Carroll's initial defamation-only complaint against Trump, which she filed in 2019. The dispute over whether Trump was exempt from the lawsuit because he was the president when he made his remarks have become entangled in appeals.

After New York approved a rule allowing survivors of sexual assault a window to file civil lawsuits even if the statute of limitations on their claims had passed, Carroll filed her second complaint against Trump for both defamation and sexual assault.

If you are being subjected to sexual assault, or know of anyone who is, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673)