Judge: Trump Liable for Defamation in Carroll Lawsuit

Facts

• On Wednesday, US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan found Donald Trump liable for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll and allowed jurors to decide how much the former president will need to pay in restitution.¹
• Trump will go to trial against Carroll in January 2024 over comments he made in 2019, where he claimed he didn't know her, didn't rape her, and that she wasn't his 'type.'²
• In a 25-page ruling, Kaplan found that Carroll's pending defamation claims against Trump were the identical statements that a jury had previously determined were defamatory earlier this year.³
• Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim. In May, a jury found Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her and awarded her $5M in damages.⁴
• The ruling comes after the Dept. of Justice in July reversed its previous decision that Trump was immune from Carroll's $10M defamation lawsuit.⁵
• Trump has denied that he did anything improper. He has appealed the jury's verdict as well as all rulings against him.⁴

Sources: ¹Reuters (a), ²Forbes, ³NBC, ⁴CNN and ⁵Reuters (b).

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Fox news. Wednesday's ruling against Donald Trump is a total miscarriage of justice. The judge is biased, hostile, and out to get Trump. It's ridiculous to continue to add charges against Trump over his assertions that the alleged sexual assault in a public department store nearly 25 years ago never happened and damages need to be capped before the situation gets out of control.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by NBC. E. Jean Carroll already proved that Donald Trump defamed her and sexually assaulted her, so any negative comments about the truth of her claims would count as defamation as well. Earlier verdicts about the same issue should carry over. There's no question about it — Trump defamed Carroll, and now he should pay for the consequences.

Predictions