E. Jean Carroll (John Angelillo, Alamy Live News via AP), Donald Trump (AP Photo/Matt Rourke.)
After a weekend in which Donald Trump told a rally crowd that E. Jean Carroll — a journalist he was found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming — made “false accusations” against him, the former president went on CNBC on Monday and repeated the same.
Referring to Carroll as “Miss Bergdorf Goodman,” identifying the place where Carroll said — and a civil jury believed — that Trump digitally raped her, the former president said again that Carroll made a “false accusation.”
As recently as Friday, Trump posted a $91 million bond for defaming Carroll, a ruling in a second Carroll lawsuit that he is appealing.
The very next day, Trump told his supporters at a Georgia rally that Carroll’s “fake story, totally made-up story” was what led to the second judgment against him.
“91 million based on false accusations made about me by a woman that I knew nothing about,” he added.
This prompted former acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal to remark that Trump was essentially “writing” a third lawsuit for Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan to file.
On Sunday, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., brought even more attention to the Carroll case on “This Week” when the interviewer asked the lawmaker, a rape victim, how she can endorse Trump for president.
“You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president. Donald Trump has been found liable for rape by a jury. Donald Trump has been found liable for defaming the victim of that rape by a jury,” Stephanopoulos said. “It’s been affirmed by a judge.”
Stephanopoulos was referring to Senior U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan’s clarification last July.
“The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,”” Kaplan wrote. “Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.”
In case the “implicit” conclusion of the jury wasn’t clear, Kaplan added a finding in a footnote:
As the jury’s response to Question 2 was an implicit finding that Mr. Trump forcibly digitally penetrated Ms. Carroll’s vagina, no explicit independent finding by the Court is necessary. Nevertheless, the Court alternatively finds that he did so.
Mace answered Stephanopoulos by downplaying the finding as civil and said the interviewer was trying to “shame” her.
“It’s not a criminal court case, number one,” she said. “Number two, I live with shame, and you’re asking me a question about my political choices, trying to shame me as a rape victim, and I find it disgusting.”
While the reaction to that exchange continued on into Monday, Trump once again commented publicly on Carroll, this time on CNBC.
“I have no idea who she is, except one thing, I got sued. From that point on I said, ‘Wow, that’s crazy, what this is,’” Trump said, before claiming the “false accusation” is to blame for his legal issues.
“I got charged, I was given a false accusation and had to post a $91 million bond on a false accusation,” he said.
Shan Wu, a former federal prosecutor and legal analyst, concluded, like Katyal, that Trump is practically daring Carroll to file a third lawsuit through his “daily defamation” campaign.
Trump continues daily defamation of E.Jean Carroll this morning referring to her as “Miss Bergdorf Goodman” – that’s the store where Trump sexually assaulted & raped as found by a jury – I discuss w/ Jim Acosta whether there is problem with Trump’s mental state – ie. he just… https://t.co/t2P6zqtp3T pic.twitter.com/scWWWoK1xC
— Shanlon Wu (@shanlonwu) March 11, 2024
“It’s almost like he really can’t help himself. He seems to think if he doesn’t actually say her name maybe that that somehow protects him from a defamation [case],” Wu said. “It doesn’t. It’s perfectly clear who he is talking about, which case he is talking about. It just does not make any sense.”
3.11.24 1010 am ET CNN Newsroom Anchor Jim Acosta @Acosta w/ CNN Legal Analyst, Former Federal Prosecutor and counsel to the Attorney General, Shanlon Wu @shanlonwu Topic: E Jean Carroll @ejeancarroll and trump’s obsession with this case pic.twitter.com/AryDTkV0Lz
— Jeff Storobinsky (@jeffstorobinsky) March 11, 2024
“It’s just this idea that there’s no amount of money that will make him stop, that’s sort of the common sense take on it. There is grounds for suing him again on this basis,” he added. “But I don’t think it’s a question of money. There’s something off with the way he thinks about this.”
What does Carroll’s legal team think about all of this? According to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, Roberta Kaplan continues watching Trump’s statements closely and didn’t rule out another lawsuit.
Robbie Kaplan, main lawyer for Carroll, does not rule out a new defamation suit: “The statute of limitations for defamation in most jurisdictions is between one and three years. As we said after the last jury verdict, we continue to monitor every statement that Donald Trump…
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 11, 2024
“The statute of limitations for defamation in most jurisdictions is between one and three years,” Kaplan reportedly said. “As we said after the last jury verdict, we continue to monitor every statement that Donald Trump makes about our client, E. Jean Carroll.”
Law&Crime reached out to Kaplan separately for comment.
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