The two lawsuits against former U.S. President Donald Trump by E. Jean Carroll, each featuring different interpretations, continue to unfold. Trump’s legal team, locked in conflict with Carroll’s counsel, view the precedential value of the $5 million jury verdict in Carroll’s first defamation case, ahead of the looming second lawsuit scheduled for January. The conviction from this defamation lawsuit resulted from Trump denying sexual assault allegations against him. Now, the ‘Trump vs Carroll’ battle continues, with each party viewing the previous holding differently and making efforts to capitalize on them. Learn More
These disputes stem from Trump denying Carroll’s initial sexual assault accusations against him and his assertion of her participating in a Democratic hoax. This denial led to Carroll’s lawsuit in 2019. However, Trump’s repetition of the exact statements about Carroll after his presidential tenure led the Department of Justice to withdraw its claim favoring Trump’s legal defense.
The first trial verdict does not exonerate Trump, as Carroll pointed out. The jury found the former president guilty of sexually abusive conduct. This verdict is consistent with the legal and colloquial definition of rape across several jurisdictions, notwithstanding the specific provisions in New York Penal Laws.
Undeterred, Trump filed a motion for collateral estoppel to try and limit allowable damages in the first trial’s sequel. Trump’s argument was that repetitive defamation does not warrant added damages since Carroll only has one reputation to repair.
Facing this motion, Carroll is now seeking summary judgment that Trump’s denial of the attack and its defamatory nature exclude the need for a second trial. She believes that the first trial has already settled these factual issues. She further argues that the only outstanding matter is to address the damages.
This lawsuit nebulously intertwines Trump’s civil and criminal issues. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, for example, subpoenaed deposition testimony from the Carroll cases last week (Details here). Bragg intends to use them in a criminal case against Trump for fraudulent business records concerning his reimbursement to attorney Michael Cohen for the 2016 Daniels hush money payment. The courts are still ascertain whether releasing these depositions would contravene pending protective agreements.
Trump’s first federal court appearance in DC on the four-count indictment for his conduct challenging the 2020 presidential election results is due anytime soon. In response to inquiries on the matter, Trump reiterated his stance of challenging a supposedly corrupt and rigged election.
For further information, visit the documents of Carroll v. Trump I and Carroll v. Trump II.