Trump liable for damages in E. Jean Carroll’s second defamation lawsuit: federal judge
By Ben Kochman
Published Sep. 6, 2023, 1:16 p.m. ET
Former President Donald Trump is on the hook for damages in E. Jean Carroll’s upcoming trial accusing him of defaming her by claiming she made up her sexual abuse allegations against him, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Trump’s 2019 claim that the 79-year-old “Ask E. Jean” advice columnist had concocted the abuse charges “to get publicity” was a lie made with “actual malice,” Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote.
Kaplan in his ruling cited a Manhattan federal jury’s May verdict finding Trump, 77, liable for sexual abuse and defamation — and ordering him to pay $5 million in damages — in a separate lawsuit brought by Carroll, who accused him of raping her inside Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s.
The Wednesday decision is a major defeat for Trump in the case, and leaves the question of how much in damages the former president will be ordered to pay as the only open issue to be determined at trial.
Kaplan also rejected Trump’s bid to limit the damages award in the upcoming case because of the $5 million he was already ordered to pay.
That case in part stemmed on Trump’s claim — which jurors found to be false — on the social media app Truth Social in 2022 that Carroll’s allegation was “a complete con job.”
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https://nypost.com/2023/09/06/donald-trump-found-liable-in-e-jean-carroll-defamation-case/
