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Donald Trump could face a third defamation case after saying that the retired journalist invented her claims of sexual assault.
The former president has already been ordered to pay $88.3 million in the last year for two defamation cases that E. Jean Carroll took against him. Both cases stem from Carroll's claim that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and Trump's subsequent denial of those claims.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Rome, Georgia, on Saturday, Trump said that Carroll has made "false accusations" against him.
"I just posted a $91 million bond, $91 million on a fake story, totally made-up story," he said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump and Carroll's attorneys via email for comment on Monday.
Trump had to post the money in court to be allowed to appeal the second defamation award, valued at $83.3 million. A jury awarded that money in January 2024.
The former president could open himself up to a further defamation lawsuit for his comments in Georgia.
"Sometimes it's not good to be rich," he told the crowd. "I could say things about what it would cost normally. Ninety-one million, based on false accusations made about me by a woman that I knew nothing about, didn't know, never heard of, I knew nothing about her.
"She wrote a book, she said things, and when I denied it, I said, 'It's so crazy, it's false.' I get sued for defamation. That's where it starts."
Trump also said that Carroll "is not a believable person" and that Lewis Kaplan, the judge in both defamation cases, was "a terrible person, a terrible judge" and "highly corrupt."
Asked about Trump's latest comments on CNN, Shanlon Wu, a former federal prosecutor turned legal analyst, described the former president as "the gift that keeps on giving to E. Jean Carroll and her attorneys."
"That's basically the whole kit and caboodle all over again," Wu said. "He continues to say it's false, he says it's made-up, and that certainly opens him up to [further legal issues]. It's a legal, strategic decision if they want to do another defamation suit, but on the face of it, even though he doesn't name her, it's incredibly obvious [who he's referring to]."
Political columnist David Rothkopf said that Trump "is going to turn into E. Jean Carroll's cash machine."
Lisa Rubin, a legal analyst for MSNBC, wrote on Saturday night: "For those of you wondering how long it would take Donald Trump to defame E. Jean Carroll again, it seems to have happened tonight in Rome, Georgia."
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more