“That sort of flagrant abuse could support a substantial punitive damages award,” former U.S. attorney says.
E. Jean Carroll, a longtime columnist who was awarded $5 million in damages after a jury found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation earlier this month, is taking aim at the former president once more.
Carroll in a Monday filing in Manhattan federal court asked for a « very substantial » additional amount of money from Trump over comments he made during an appearance on CNN only a day after being found liable. The New York Times reported that the filing is part of a separate defamation lawsuit that Carroll filed against Trump in 2019 — Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the late 1990s, subsequently slandering her name by denying the event when she went public.
During his May 10 CNN town hall, Trump doubled down on his long-standing rejection of Carroll’s claims, arguing they were « fake » and « made up. » The ex-president denied having ever met Carroll — despite a photograph of the two together — and called her a « wack job, » while referring to the trial as « a rigged deal. »
Carroll responded to Trump’s CNN sit-down in an interview with Times, saying, « It’s just stupid; it’s just disgusting, vile, foul; it wounds people. »
The writer’s most recent filing asserts that Trump’s remarks « show the depth of his malice toward Carroll, since it is hard to imagine defamatory conduct that could possibly be more motivated by hatred, ill will or spite.
