The court denied Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss E. Jean Carroll’s defamation claim from next month’s high-profile trial to determine whether he raped Carroll.
In Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Trump’s claim that “absolute litigation privilege” immunized the former president for allegedly defaming Carroll on his Truth Social platform on October 12 by denying the rape occurred.
Trump Is Subjected To Several Legal Action
Trump is accused of raping Carroll in the dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in late 1995 or early 1996. The case will go to trial on April 25.
Carroll is also pursuing a battery claim under a New York statute that permits sexual abuse survivors to sue their alleged attackers long after statutes of limitations have expired.
In a post from October 12, Trump claimed that Carroll was unknowing to him, that she invented the rape allegation to promote her memoir, and that the allegation was a hoax, a lie, a con, and a total fraud.
The post substantially repeated numerous remarks Trump made in June 2019 at the White House, prompting Carroll to file a lawsuit that is still pending five months later. Trump stated that his post was protected because it amounted to commentary on Carroll’s earlier lawsuit and his defenses.
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Court Rejects Trump’s Motion
However, the judge ruled that Trump’s tweet was neither a report of any judicial proceeding nor a fair and accurate report of such a proceeding, as required for immunity.
Trump is awaiting the outcome of a grand jury that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg called to decide whether or not to indict him for his alleged involvement in the payment of bribe money to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, where Trump, in his third run for the White House, would have to defend himself against any charges, security has been increased.
In Carroll’s case, Kaplan stated last week that Trump will be assigned an anonymous jury due to extensive pre-trial publicity and a very strong risk that jurors will fear harassment, unwanted invasions of their privacy, and retaliation.
Carroll v. Trump, Southern District of New York, U.S. District Court, Case No. 22-10016.
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