Donald Trump Sues Rape Accuser E. Jean Carroll for Defamation, Claims She 'Attacked' His Reputation
Donald Trump is countersuing his alleged rape accuser E. Jean Carroll.
According to Radar, the former president's legal team officially filed the suit on Tuesday, June 27, where Trump accused the 79-year-old of "spitefully" defaming his reputation during a television interview after he was found liable in a civil case for sexually abusing her in a New York department store in the '90s.
The 45th commander-in-chief was found guilty of defaming Carroll after claiming that the incident never happened and that the author was "not my type." He added that the case was a "hoax" and "con job."
Although Trump was found liable by a federal jury for the alleged sexual abuse in a civil trial, he was not found liable for rape in a criminal trial. Therefore, the politician was not charged.
Now, Trump's attorneys are claiming her recent CNN interview where Carroll noted that despite the jury finding that the Republican did "sexually abuse" her but did not "rape" her, she stated, "Oh yes he did, oh yes he did."
Trump wants unspecified compensatory and punitive damages after the comments were made, in addition to having his accuser retract multiple statements made.
According to the businessman's lawyers, Alina Habba and Michael T. Madaio, they claim Carroll "attacked" his reputation and "made these statements knowing each of them were false or with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity."
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
Carroll’s attorney, Robbie Kaplan, said in a public response to the countersuit, "Trump’s filing is thus nothing more than his latest effort to delay accountability for what a jury has already found to be his defamation of E. Jean Carroll. But whether he likes it or not, that accountability is coming very soon."
This is only the latest scandal Trump has been involved in lately: he recently pleaded not guilty to 37 charges related to allegedly mishandling classified documents, which he secretly kept at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.