Donald Trump sues E. Jean Carroll for lying about rape, after grand jury finds only sexual abuse

Carroll alleged that Trump raped her at a New York luxury store in 1996. The jury agreed that he defamed and sexually abused her, but not that he raped her.

Trump then sued her for defamation, seeking damages and a retraction. He cited her CNN interview, where she insisted that he raped her and told his lawyer, “He did it. And you know it.” Carroll’s lawyer said the case was a delay tactic by Trump to avoid accountability for the 9 May verdict.

Trump sued Carroll for defamation, two weeks after a New York court scheduled another trial against him. Carroll, who won $5 million in damages in November, sued him again after he called her a ‘whack job’ and denied her rape claim on CNN.

A jury had found him guilty of sexually abusing and defaming the magazine writer. Carroll’s lawyers said Trump’s post-verdict statements showed his malice and deserved more punitive damages to punish and deter him and others from defaming her.