A New York judge tossed out Donald Trump’s defamation claim against E. Jean Carroll, the author who sued him for allegedly raping her in a department store dressing room decades ago.
Trump’s counterclaim against Carroll was dismissed Monday by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, marking the writer’s latest legal victory over the former president.
Trump filed the counterclaim shortly after a jury held him liable for sexually abusing Carroll. The same jury concluded Trump was not liable for rape, but Carroll still won the trial and was awarded $5 million in damages.
The former president accused Carroll of trashing his reputation by continuing to publicly accuse him of rape during a May 10 appearance on CNN, despite jurors concluding a day earlier that his actions during the alleged 1996 assault hadn’t gone that far.
Kaplan said Carroll’s statements about Trump were “substantially true” given the jury’s “implicit determination” — through its sexual abuse finding — that Trump had “digitally raped” her.
“We strongly disagree with the flawed decision and will be filing an appeal shortly,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement.
Trump’s suit was a counterclaim in a separate 2019 defamation lawsuit Carroll filed against him that is set to go to trial in January.
The case is Carroll v. Trump, 22-cv-10016, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
