Judge dismisses Trump’s counterclaim against E. Jean Carroll in defamation case

Aug. 7 (UPI) — A federal judge ruled Monday to dismiss former President Donald Trump’s counterclaim against E. Jean Carroll.

District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled to dismiss the claim on the basis that it failed to prove that Carroll made false statements after a jury ruled in her favor in a sex abuse case against Trump in May. Trump’s claim stems from Carroll’s response to a question in a CNN interview on May 10.

In that interview, Carroll was asked how she felt after a jury in New York found ruled that Trump sexually abused her but did not rape her under the definition of New York Law. Carroll said, “Oh yes, he did.” Trump argued that this statement is false and defamatory.

The argument by Trump is based on the understanding that the court did not determine Trump had “penetrated her vagina with his penis,” Kaplan wrote, and agreed that was the decision. However, he later writes that though Trump was not found liable of rape by state law, he did, in fact, rape Carroll “digitally — rather than with his penis.”

“Thus, it establishes against him the substantial truth of Ms. Carroll’s ‘rape’ accusations,” Kaplan wrote.

Kaplan ruled that Trump had not offered sufficient evidence that Carroll’s statements were false or at least not substantially true, which is the standard for a civil case.

Kaplan delivered a separate order Monday that will allow Carroll’s attorneys to share video of Trump’s deposition with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Bragg indicted Trump in March on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records for allegedly making hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign for president.

Trump was ordered to pay Carroll an estimated $5 million in compensation, punitive damages and reputational repair to Carroll. His request for a new trial was denied in July. In June, Kaplan ruled that Carroll is allowed to file an amendment to her complaint against Trump to request an award of an additional $10 million.