Judge Rejects Complaint Over Trump Treatment Linking to His Christianity

A judge has rejected an attempt by a Donald Trump supporter to have E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against the former president dismissed over claims he is a "white Christian" who is being treated "unfairly."

James H. Brady, who has been sanctioned by federal and state courts for repetitive lawsuits, filed a motion in a New York court to intervene in the defamation suit Carroll filed against Trump over comments he made in 2019 denying he sexually assaulted the former Elle columnist.

The 2019 lawsuit is separate to the sexual battery and defamation claim that a New York jury ruled in favor of Carroll in May, and focuses on comments Trump made while president denying the assault at a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s took place, including stating "she's not my type."

In his motion, Brady wrote that he wants to intervene in the case as he is "unwilling to sit silent and watch another white Christian be treated as poorly and unfairly as I personally have been treated" in the New York State and Federal Courts.

"It is outrageous and clearly there was something very wrong with this Court's May 9, 2023 Jury instructions against a Christian that resulted in the Jury finding in Mr. Trump's favor that he did not rape Ms. Carroll and yet at the same exact time finding that Mr. Trump defamed Ms. Carroll and harmed her reputation and owed Ms. Carroll millions of dollars for Mr. Trump claiming that the rape never happened and was a hoax," Brady's motion states.

In response Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the sexual battery and defamation civil trial which found Trump liable for the assault against Carroll, rejected the request as it had no legal grounds.

"There are only two legal bases on which one may intervene in a civil action. The first is intervention as of right, which is available only to one who 'is given an unconditional right to intervene by a federal statute' or 'claims an interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the action, and is so situated that disposing of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede the movant's ability to protect its interest, unless the existing parties adequately represent that interest,'" Kaplan wrote.

"The second is by permission of the court, which in an appropriate case may be granted if the putative intervenor 'is given a conditional right by a federal statute' or 'has a claim or defense that shares with the main action a common question of law or fact.'"

Kaplan concluded that Brady's claim does not "satisfy any of these criteria" and therefore denied it.

The 2019 defamation lawsuit against Trump has been frequently delayed through appeals as the former president attempted to argue that he could not be sued over comments he made while in office as he was immune.

Carroll filed her defamation and sexual battery lawsuit against Trump while taking advantage of the Adult Survivors Act—a law that New York passed in May 2022, giving adults who allege sexual assault one year to bring lawsuits even if the statute of limitations has expired.

After a New York jury ruled in favor of Carroll in that suit and ordered the former president to pay Carroll $5 million in damages, Trump appeared at a CNN town hall the next day where he once again attacked and insulted Carroll as a "whack job," denied he ever met her and suggested the abuse claim was a "made-up story."

In response, Carroll sought an amendment to her 2019 suit to reflect the comments Trump said while seeking an additional $10 million in monetary damages.

"Trump's defamatory statements post-verdict show the depth of his malice toward Carroll since it is hard to imagine defamatory conduct that could possibly be more motivated by hatred, ill will, or spite," the proposed amended complaint said.