E Jean Carroll’s lawyers have hinted that a new defamation lawsuit could be “on the table” after Donald Trump attacked her yet again in one of his latest Truth Social rants.
On the eve of closing arguments in his hush money trial, the former president took to Truth Social to fire off a “Happy Memorial Day” message to all “the human scum”.
“Happy Memorial Day to All, including the Human Scum that is working so hard to destroy our Once Great Country, & to the Radical Left, Trump Hating Federal Judge in New York that presided over, get this, TWO separate trials, that awarded a woman, who I never met before (a quick handshake at a celebrity event, 25 years ago, doesn’t count!), 91 MILLION DOLLARS for “DEFAMATION,’” he wrote, adding to his growing list of defamatory statements made about Ms Carroll.
“She didn’t know when the so-called event took place - sometime in the 1990’s - never filed a police report, didn’t have to produce the “dress” that she threatened me with (it showed negative!), & sung my praises in the first half of her CNN Interview with Alison Cooper, but changed her tune in the second half - Gee, I wonder why (UNDER APPEAL!)?
“The Rape charge was dropped by a jury! Or Arthur Engoron, the N.Y. State Wacko Judge who fined me almost 500 Million Dollars (UNDER APPEAL) for DOING NOTHING WRONG, used a Statute that has never been used before, gave me NO JURY, Mar-a-Lago at $18,000,000 - Now for Merchan!”
Robert Kaplan, Ms Carroll’s lawyer, quickly responded in a statement first posted by The New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman on X.
“We have said several times since the last jury verdict in January that all options were on the table,” she said.
“And that remains true today – all options are on the table.”
Despite Mr Trump’s false claims in his Truth Social post, a civil jury last year found that he did sexually abuse Ms Carroll in Manhattan’s luxury Bergdorf Goodman department store back in 1996.
Ms Carroll said that she and Mr Trump randomly bumped into each other and they got chatting, before Mr Trump pinned her against a wall in a dressing room and sexually assaulted her.
The jury also found that he defamed the former Elle magazine columnist when she came forward with the allegations. She was awarded $5m in the verdict.
In a second civil defamation trial in January, Mr Trump was found to have defamed Ms Carroll when he accused her of lying about the attack.
The former president was ordered to pay Ms Carroll $83.3m in damages in that trial.
Despite the rulings, Mr Trump can’t seem to stop lashing out at Ms Carroll and has lodged an appeal.
His rant came hours before closing arguments were set to begin in his criminal hush money trial in Manhattan.
The former president is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over a payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election – in a move to silence her about an alleged sexual encounter in 2006, months after Melania Trump gave birth to Barron.
Prosecutors allege Mr Trump’s “fixer” Michael Cohen made the $130,000 payment on his behalf and Mr Trump then reimbursed him after entering the White House. He allegedly fraudulently recorded the reimbursement payments as legal expenses.
The charges have been stepped up to felonies as prosecutors allege the former president committed the crimes in commission of another crime: to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
After weeks of testimony, the trial is now nearing its end, with jurors set to begin deliberations as soon as Wednesday and decide Mr Trump’s fate.
