Former President Donald Trump Tuesday sued E. Jean Carroll for defamation, accusing her of making “false statements” alleging he raped her, weeks after a jury in a civil trial found him liable of sexually abusing the New York-based author and ordered him to pay $5 million in damages.
In a filing with the Southern District of New York federal court, Trump accuses Carroll of damaging his reputation during an appearance on CNN on May 10 where she accused him of raping her.
The filing points to the jury’s verdict in the civil suit, which concluded that Trump sexually abused and defamed the author, but unanimously rejected the claim that he raped her.
Trump’s lawyers allege that during the CNN appearance when Carroll was asked specifically about the jury’s verdict that the former president did not rape her, she responded “oh yes he did, oh yes he did.”
The filing accuses Carroll of acting with “actual malice and ill will with an intent to significantly and spitefully harm and attack” Trump’s reputation.
Trump’s attorneys urge the court to overturn the damages awarded to Carroll in the civil case, have her retract her statements, and award “compensatory and punitive damages” to the former president.
$5 million. That is the total amount in damages the jury awarded Carroll last month in her civil suit against the former president. Trump was ordered to pay the author $2 million in damages for sexual abuse and around $3 million for defamation.
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