Donald Trump Stands His Ground In E. Jean Carroll Case With Bold New Comments
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault
It's déjà vu with former President Donald Trump and his comments on journalist and author E. Jean Carroll. As a quick recap, Carroll's defamation cases against Trump related to comments that he made about her after she accused him in 2019 of raping her in the 1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. This is separate from the New York civil case in which Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation of Carroll, for which she was awarded $5 million.
Carroll was awarded $83.3 million in the second defamation case in January with confirmation that Trump had defamed her, and Trump now has a $91.6 million bond that will cover the amount plus interest. Even with the big dollar penalties in place, he hasn't backed down from commenting on the situation. At a campaign rally in Georgia on March 9, Trump said: "I just posted a $91 million bond ... on a fake story totally made up ... by a woman that I knew nothing about." Then on CNBC on March 11, he repeated the claim that he didn't know Carroll, and he referred to her again as "Ms. Bergdorf Goodman."
Donald Trump is making some of the same type of comments about E. Jean Carroll
Donald Trump's recent comments are similar to some that were used as evidence in the defamation case that E. Jean Carroll won. As such, some legal experts think it's possible that Trump is opening himself up to additional defamation claims from Carroll. Her lawyer, Robert A. Kaplan released a statement (via The New York Times) about the situation, which shows the door is open for follow-up suits: "The statute of limitations for defamation in most jurisdictions is between one and three years. As we said after the last jury verdict, we continue to monitor every statement that Donald Trump makes about our client."
Trump is appealing both defamation decisions, and Carroll can't collect the cash until those appeal processes are finished. If the penalties stand as they are and he has to pay the money, Carroll has big plans for the $83 million that Trump owes her.
His legal troubles with Carroll are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Trump's legal issues. He was found liable and ordered to pay $354 million in the civil fraud case against him and his company in New York. He also still faces four criminal indictments over a range of issues, including alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and trying to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.