Trump Files Defamation Counterclaim Against E. Jean Carroll

In his ongoing legal dispute with author E. Jean Carroll, former President Donald Trump on Tuesday filed a counterclaim accusing her of defamation. 

The former president had accused Carroll of defaming him during an appearance on CNN on May 10 when she said Trump raped him – a day after a jury ruled that he did not commit rape, reported The Hill.

In his counterclaim, Trump said Carroll’s statement, “Oh yes he did, oh yes he did,” made in response to a question about the jury’s ruling on CNN, was false and defamatory.

This came a month after a jury’s verdict held the former president responsible for sexual abuse and defamation. 

Carroll made “these false statements with actual malice and ill will with an intent to significantly and spitefully harm and attack,” the counterclaim states. 

Trump “has been the subject of significant harm to his reputation, which, in turn, has yielded an inordinate amount of damages sustained as a result,” it said. 

“The interview was on television, social media, and multiple internet websites, with the intention of broadcasting and circulating these defamatory statements among a significant portion of the public,” Trump’s lawyers argued in the filing.

This came after Carroll earlier this month received approval from a federal judge to proceed with a separate defamation case against the former president, seeking $10 million in damages.

Meanwhile, Trump has sought a Manhattan federal judge’s permission to designate the $5 million owed to writer Carroll in a defamation case as cash rather than a bond. The move will save the former president a 1% bond premium or $55,500 in cash as he appeals Carroll’s May sex abuse and defamation trial victory. 

Trump did not take the stand to defend himself in trial prior to the verdict finding him liable.

“The interview was on television, social media and multiple internet websites, with the intention of broadcasting and circulating these defamatory statements among a significant portion of the public,” said Trump’s lawyers.

In a video showed to a New York grand jury, Trump claimed in the video that the woman in the picture was his ex-wife, Marla Maples, instead of Carroll.

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