E. Jean Carroll Cleared To Amend Lawsuit Against Trump To Include Comments At CNN Town Hall

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A federal judge will allow E. Jean Carroll to amend her first lawsuit against former President Donald Trump to seek more damages after she accused Trump of making defamatory comments at a CNN town hall the day after she awarded $5 million when a jury found him liable for defaming and sexually assaulting her.

A judge will allow E. Jean Carroll to amend her first lawsuit against former President Donald Trump … [+] to include allegations of defamatory comments made at Trump’s CNN town hall. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

The request to amend the suit was for “a very substantial punitive damages award” to Carroll in order to “punish” Trump, deter him from defaming Carroll more and to “deter others from doing the same.”

One day after a jury found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation of Carroll when he denied the assault, he called the trial “a rigged deal,” called Carroll a “wack job,” denied knowing Carroll and said her claims were “fake” and a “made-up story.”

Trump’s legal team argued the motion to amend was “futile” because the comments made at the town hall were “safeguarded by the fair reporting privilege,” preventing them from being used “to enhance the punitive damages sought.”

Judge Lewis Kaplan, who approved the amendment, ruled any response by the plaintiff must be filed by July 27 and any reply by the defendant must be filed by August 3.

Robbie Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, told Forbes that “we look forward to moving ahead expeditiously on E. Jean Carroll’s remaining claims.”

Key Background

Carroll first accused Trump in 2019 of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s in her book and an excerpt published in New York Magazine. Trump denied the encounter, claiming Carroll was “not my type,” which led to the author suing the then-president for defamation. Trump sought to eliminate the lawsuit on the grounds that he made his comments in his capacity as president, but the case has bounced around the court system for years and remains pending. Last year, Carroll filed a second lawsuit focusing on the rape allegation, prompted by a New York state law that gave adult victims of sexual assault a one-year window to file litigation even if the statute of limitations has passed, and also alleging defamation. Jurors in Manhattan found Trump liable for sexual abuse—but not rape—in the second lawsuit, and he was ordered to pay Carroll roughly $2 million for sexual abuse and $3 million for defamation. The day after that verdict was returned, Trump appeared on a CNN town hall where he made comments about Carroll’s accusations, leading her lawyer to threaten another defamation suit. Instead, Carroll filed to amend the 2019 suit to include the comments on May 22.

Tangent

There have also been moves in Carroll’s second lawsuit against Trump—the one in which she was awarded $5 million. On June 8, Trump’s team requested a new trial with Carroll, claiming the $2 million he was ordered to pay her for sexual abuse was “grossly excessive” because the jury ruled the incident between the two in a department store dressing room was sexual abuse, not rape. They also argued the $3 million defamation charges were “based on pure speculation.” As of Tuesday afternoon, a judge had not yet responded to that motion.

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