E. Jean Carroll quotes CNN interview in new statement

E. Jean Carroll filed court documents Monday seeking ‘very substantial’ damages from Donald Trump for making scathing remarks about him at a CNN town hall a day after the former president lost a 5-year lawsuit million dollars against the writer.

Carroll is now seeking no less than $10 million from Trump in damages in his original lawsuit in light of what he said on May 10 on CNN.

The move came as her lawyers asked a Manhattan federal court judge for permission to amend that first defamation lawsuit, which she filed against Trump in 2019, to reflect her new statements on CNN about him. which they claim are also defamatory.

“Trump’s defamatory statements after the verdict show the depth of his malice toward Carroll because it is difficult to imagine defamatory conduct that could possibly be more motivated by hatred, ill will, or spite,” the proposed amended complaint reads. .

“This conduct warrants an award of very substantial punitive damages to Carroll both to punish Trump, to deter him from engaging in further libel, and to deter others from doing the same,” the complaint states.

Carroll’s second lawsuit, filed in late 2022 and alleging rape and defamation, ended by a jury in this court after less than three hours of deliberations finding Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. last fall when he denied her allegations.

Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday, filed a notice of appeal of that verdict.

Carroll said Trump, 76, raped her in the mid-1990s in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan.

He denies sexually assaulting her but has made a series of comments over the years accusing her of making up the complaint.

Carroll’s new amended trial proposal notes during his CNN town hall interview, “Trump falsely stated that he did not sexually abuse Carroll, that he had no idea who Carroll was and that Carroll’s now proven accusation was a ‘false’ and ‘made up story’ created by a ‘whack job.'”

“Trump also insulted Carroll’s character and downplayed his sexual abuse by asking ‘what kind of woman does someone meet’ and then ‘within minutes’ plays ‘handkerchief in a dressing room,'” the amended complaint states.

The filing notes that approximately 3.3 million people watched the CNN broadcast and heard the audience in the studio “applauding and laughing out loud at Trump’s comments.”

The filing cites several Twitter posts that echoed Trump’s “numerous lies and demeaning remarks” about Carroll.

“These messages and others like them are exactly what Trump wanted,” the amended complaint reads.

“Trump used a nationwide platform to belittle and mock Carroll. He pushed a laughing audience as he shed light on his violent sexual assault, called out Carroll’s names, hinted that Carroll was asking be assaulted and overturned the jury’s verdict vindicating Carroll.”

If Judge Lewis Kaplan allows Carroll to change his pending lawsuit, it would be the latest example in a series of Trump statements about him adding to his civil legal peril.

Carroll, 79, went public with his allegation against Trump in a June 2019 New York magazine article, when he was still president.

She filed her first lawsuit against him in New York State Court in November 2019, claiming he defamed her by saying she was lying and was motivated by a political agenda and desire. to increase the sales of a book with its claims.

The first lawsuit moved to federal court in Manhattan when the Justice Department sought to replace Trump as defendant, on the grounds that he was acting as president when he made the statements.

Judge Kaplan refused to let the DOJ stand in Trump’s stead, but appeals of his decision prevented the lawsuit from going all the way to trial.

Carroll filed a second lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan last year, taking advantage of a new New York state law that allowed accusers in sexual assault or misconduct cases to sue prosecution within one year if they would otherwise be barred by the civil statute of limitations.

That second complaint also alleged defamation, citing statements by Trump last fall that repeated his claim that she had made it up to being raped, calling his allegations “completely stupid” and claiming that Carroll was not his “kind”.

Trump is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. He has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least two dozen women, including his late wife Ivana Trump, who during their divorce in the late 1980s, a claimed to have raped her. Ivana Trump later retracted the allegation.

Two women who said Trump groped them against their will testified at his recent civil trial for Carroll’s trial.