(FixThisNation.com) – In his latest legal dispute with author E. Jean Carroll, former President Trump has filed a counterclaim, alleging defamation against Carroll. This comes shortly after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll by denying her accusations. Trump’s counterclaim asserts that Carroll defamed him during a CNN appearance when she accused him of rape, immediately following the jury’s ruling that he was not guilty. According to Trump’s filing, Carroll’s statements were made with malice and ill will, with the intention of harming his reputation and causing substantial damages.
Trump’s legal team argues that Carroll’s comments were made on various platforms to ensure a wide audience, including television, social media, and multiple internet websites.
Carroll has filed two separate defamation lawsuits against Trump. The second lawsuit recently concluded, with the jury awarding Carroll $5 million in damages for Trump’s sexual abuse and defamation, excluding rape, in the mid-1990s. Trump has requested a new trial following this verdict.
The counterclaim filed by Trump is in response to Carroll’s initial lawsuit, which has not yet reached trial. This lawsuit accuses Trump of defaming Carroll when she first came forward with her allegations in June 2019, including statements made by Trump during an interview with The Hill at the White House three days after the accusation was published.
This first lawsuit, which has faced legal challenges and attempts by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to replace Trump as the defendant, may progress soon. After a judge granted Carroll’s request to include Trump’s comments from a CNN town hall in the lawsuit, the DOJ has indicated it may reconsider its position in recent court filings. The DOJ has until July 13 to decide on its involvement in the case.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, responded to Trump’s counterclaim by emphasizing that the former president was not exonerated by the jury, as he claims, and that most of the statements in his counterclaim fall outside the statute of limitations in New York. Kaplan asserts that Trump’s filing is merely an attempt to delay accountability for his defamation, which the jury has already determined. She concludes by stating that accountability for Trump is forthcoming, regardless of his efforts to evade it.
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