After Donald Trump faced a $370 million fine in New York state court last week and the risk that his real estate empire could collapse, he will now face another costly legal battle in Manhattan: a defamation case filed by a woman. A jury of her peers reportedly believed she had been sexually abused by the former US president.
Trump will go on trial again on Tuesday over sexual assault accusations leveled against him by former Elle writer E Jean Carroll, his second such lawsuit in less than a year.
The trial – where Trump also has a series of criminal cases against him – will be held in Manhattan federal court, just a few hundred feet away, New York Attorney General Letitia James’ team argued , Trump committed massive civil fraud.
Carroll said Trump raped her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman around late 1995; her statement, first published by New York magazine, was excerpted from her then-upcoming book What Do We Need Men for? “a part of. A gentle suggestion.
Trump denied Carroll’s claims, saying: “I have never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book – that should indicate her motives. It should be sold in the fiction section.” He He further insulted her and accused her of being involved in political conspiracy.
Carroll sued Trump in 2019 over the remarks, saying his denials damaged her reputation. At the time, Carroll was unable to sue Trump over her sexual assault allegation because it was beyond the statute of limitations.
However, in 2022, New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which gives adult survivors of sexual misconduct one year to file civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers, allowed Carroll to sue Trump again. The second was for an alleged sexual assault. The lawsuit, set to go to trial in April 2023, also includes defamation claims against Trump for comments he made after he left office.
“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen. He lied and ruined my reputation. I’m here to restore mine. life,” Carroll said in harrowing court testimony.
Carroll won the lawsuit: After just three hours of deliberations, the jury found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation and awarded her $5 million.
Trump’s upcoming trial will not reopen the sexual assault charges against Carroll. On January 9, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that Trump could not deny the sexual assault, citing the jury’s previous verdict.
Kaplan also said: “Thus, the fact that Mr. Trump sexually abused — in effect raped — Ms. Carroll is conclusively proven and binding in this case.”
“Mr. Trump is prohibited from offering any testimony, evidence or argument that indicates or implies that he did not sexually assault Ms. Carroll, that she fabricated her account of the sexual assault, or that she had any motive to do so.”
The ruling means Trump cannot contest Carroll’s claims at this trial. Jurors were tasked with deciding solely whether Trump defamed her in his 2019 statement and, if so, the financial penalties associated with the denial.
“This is a damages issue that should be resolved soon,” said Neama Rahmani, president of the West Coast Trial Lawyers Association. “There is no legal defense. No factual defense will be advanced.”
In another legal blow, Trump was unable to block the testimony of Northwestern University marketing professor Ashlee Humphreys. Humphreys’ testimony will allow Carroll to receive some compensation for the reputational damage he suffered as a result of Trump’s comments.
Newsletter Promotion Post
Humphries testified in Carroll’s first trial against Trump, but her testimony in this trial is particularly dangerous for the former president. Humphries testified in the defamation trial of two former Georgia election workers against Trump aide Rudy Giuliani.
Former election workers won $148.1 million in lawsuit. Giuliani subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection.
To those familiar with high-profile defamation claims, Trump’s chances of success look slim, given his stature and his typical conduct in legal cases.
Rahmani said the outcome could have been very different for Trump. For example, would jurors be disturbed by other things he did to Carroll? He noted that New York would be a favorable venue for any court proceedings against Trump.
“Defamation is definitely a difficult case to determine as to what a jury is going to do,” Rahmani said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a jury gives a seven-figure or even eight-figure verdict.”
A crisis communications expert who specializes in litigation, including defamation, pointed out that Trump’s status is extremely disadvantageous.
“If it had been anyone other than Kim Jong Un or Vladimir Putin, I think she would have failed,” the expert said. “Because the truth is he, and I think he would have a hard time being graceful with people otherwise. It would have been a perfectly successful case for anyone else in this situation, otherwise this burden would have fallen on E. Jean Carroll now asked him to defend himself.
“He is unlike any other client I have ever advised,” the expert told the Guardian. It could be even more damaging to Trump if he attends Carroll’s trial, as he claims he will.
“I think his presence in court might hurt him because I think he has an aura of machismo about him and he’s going to be very stern throughout,” the industry veteran said. “In any other situation, I would say E Jean Carroll’s success rate is 2 percent, and in this case, Trump’s success rate is 2 percent.”
Carroll’s team has not commented on the upcoming trial. Representatives for Trump also had no immediate comment.
