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Donald Trump has claimed that allegations made against him by E. Jean Carroll were a "totally made-up story," prompting suggestions by legal analysts that the former president could open himself up to a further defamation lawsuit.
The Context
Carroll filed a lawsuit against Trump in 2019, claiming the former president accused her of lying when she came forward with sexual assault allegations against him. The same year, she had alleged Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
A jury in a civil trial in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in another defamation case that Carroll filed in 2022. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in both lawsuits and claimed that they are politically motivated to damage his run for the presidency. He continued to deny ever knowing Carroll throughout a trial in January to determine how much he would pay in damages from the 2019 lawsuit.
The jury in that trial ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83.3 million, a verdict his lawyers have vowed to appeal.
What We Know
At a rally in Rome, Georgia, on Saturday, Trump complained about having to postmore than $91 million as a bond on what he described as "a fake story, a totally made-up story."
"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."
Views
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. 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]."
"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," Lisa Rubin, a legal analyst for MSNBC, wrote on Saturday night.
Political columnist David Rothkopf said Trump "is going to turn into E. Jean Carroll's cash machine."
Newsweek approached lawyers for Trump and Carroll via email for comment on Sunday.
Update 3/10/24, 4:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include further information.
About the writer
Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. ... Read more