A federal judge has ruled that in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, the jury’s main task will be determining the amount of money Donald Trump must pay her. This decision comes after the judge concluded that the former president was legally responsible for making damaging statements.
This ruling represents a significant setback for Trump, who is currently grappling with various criminal charges and civil litigations. Many of these legal challenges are reaching a critical point as he embarks on a presidential campaign.
Judge Lewis Kaplan has stated that the verdict reached by a federal jury earlier this year in the case against Trump will carry over to the upcoming defamation trial set for January. This trial centers on statements made by Trump in 2019 regarding Carroll’s allegations of sexual assault.
Carroll, a former magazine columnist, had accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store during the mid-1990s and subsequently tarnishing her reputation through his denial of these allegations.
In May, following a two-week trial, a jury concluded that Trump had both sexually abused Carroll and defamed her by denying her claims in 2022, asserting that he didn’t know her and that she wasn’t his “type.”
In his 25-page decision, Judge Kaplan wrote, “The truth or falsity of Mr. Trump’s 2019 statements therefore depends — like the truth or falsity of his 2022 statement — on whether Ms. Carroll lied about Mr. Trump sexually assaulting her.”
In the trial, which concluded in May, Trump was instructed to provide E. Jean Carroll with a $5 million compensation for the remarks he made following his presidency. Trump is currently appealing both the verdict and the awarded damages from that particular case.
The lawsuit central to Judge Kaplan’s recent ruling pertains to statements made by Trump during his presidency, specifically in response to Carroll’s rape allegation.
The trial for this case is scheduled to commence on January 15, coinciding with the intensification of the Republican presidential nomination competition, characterized by primaries and caucuses. Trump is currently leading as the front-runner in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination.