By Michael Mitsanas - NBC News
Former President Donald Trump filed a countersuit Tuesday against writer E. Jean Carroll, alleging she defamed him on television.
A New York jury last month found Trump responsible for sexually abusing Carroll at a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, but did not find him responsible for her alleged rape. The writer received $5 million in compensation for assault and defamation.
Writer E. Jean Carroll arrives in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
The jury also found that Trump had defamed Carroll by calling his claims "deception" and "scam."
On May 10, a day after the decision, Carroll was asked in an interview on CNN how she felt when the jury didn't find Trump liable for rape, to which she replied, "Well, immediately (I said) in my own head, 'Oh, yes he did, yes he did.'"
[Writer Jean Carroll says she feels "overwhelmed with joy" for women across the U.S. after Trump verdict]
In his countersuit, Trump argued that Carroll's statements are defamatory and contrary to the jury's verdict. In addition, he noted that the writer made the statements "with actual malice and ill will, with the intention of significantly and spitefully damaging and attacking" her reputation.
The Republican mogul asks that Carroll retract her statements and be punished with damages, as well as be compensated and reimbursed for legal expenses "and any other relief" that the court deems necessary.
Jean Carroll asks the judge for new compensation for Trump's teasing after winning the trial
May 23, 202300:30
The writer's lawyer, Robbie Kaplan, said in a statement that Trump's lawsuit is "nothing more than his latest effort to delay assuming his responsibility in what a jury has already determined was a defamation against E. Jean Carroll," and that most of the former president's arguments in the countersuit "were made outside of New York's one-year statute of limitations."
"But, like it or not, that accountability is coming very soon," Kaplan concluded.
Trump denies sexually assaulting Carroll and maintains he never defamed her because she has told the truth about the matter. He also insists he never met Carroll and claims he wasn't his type.