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Despite already high fines, Trump remains true to his line and continues to defame E. Jean Caroll.
This could cost Trump dearly again.
New York - When a jury found Donald Trump responsible for the sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll last year, Trump responded in a
CNN
"Town Hall" interview by attacking Carroll again - using the same words.
Earlier this year, when another jury was set to decide what Trump owes Carroll in a separate defamation lawsuit, Carroll's lawyers appealed to the jury: "Make sure it's enough to make him quit."
The second jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million.
But that apparently wasn't enough to make Trump stop.
Experts now believe that Trump risks another major civil judgment against him.
After posting $91 million bail in the second case, Trump has resumed his attacks on Carroll.
Now Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, is hinting that a third lawsuit could be coming.
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Trump's renewed comments about Caroll could mean another lawsuit
“The statute of limitations for defamation in most jurisdictions is between one and three years,” Kaplan said in a statement to The
Washington Post
.
"As we said after the jury's latest verdict, we will continue to monitor every statement made by Donald Trump about our client E. Jean Carroll." Trump's recent statements - similar to those in the May 2023
CNN
interview - have many similarities the statements for which he was originally convicted.
E. Jean Carroll leaves federal court in Manhattan after the jury ruled in her favor.
© Edna Leshowitz/IMAGO
"I just posted $91 million in bail - $91 million for a fake story, a completely made up story," Trump said at a rally in Rome, Georgia, on Saturday.
He added: “91 million due to false allegations made against me by a woman I knew nothing about, who I did not know, who I never heard of.
I don’t know anything about her.”
Trump repeats defamatory statement in CNBC interview
Trump upped the ante on CNBC
Monday morning (March 12)
: "If I don't win the appeal of these ridiculous decisions... including Miss Bergdorf Goodman, a person I've never - I don't know - I have no idea who she is.
Except for one thing: I was sued.
From then on I said to myself, 'Wow, this is crazy what's happening here.'
I was accused.
I was charged with false accusation and had to post a $91 million bond for false accusation.”
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Trump is a true master of repetition.
But when it comes to defamatory statements, that's not necessarily a good thing.
Trump's line about "Miss Bergdorf Goodman" - a reference to the department store where Trump is said to have sexually abused Carroll - echoes his defamatory statement in October 2022.
Trump's phrase about "false accusations" appeared in several comments deemed defamatory, including on June 21 and 22, 2019. In his 2022 statement, he called Carroll's claims a "fraud," a "hoax" and a "lie."
Direct parallels between Trump's statements make a new indictment likely
Trump's statement that he didn't know Carroll also echoes all of the comments above.
Trump also appeared to all but say on Monday (March 11) that he had "never met" Carroll, something he also said in June 2019, although there is photographic evidence of the two appearing together.
That Trump's statements were so similar to one another was cited by Lewis Kaplan, judge in the cases, when he found Trump liable for the second time.
Former President Donald Trump makes an appearance in Rome, Georgia.
© Robin Rayne/Imago
“In this statement (October 2022, Editor's Note), as well as his 2019 statements, Mr. Trump denied Ms. Carroll's allegations, stated that he did not know her, and claimed that she was true to her allegations devious and inappropriate purposes,” wrote Kaplan, who is not related to Roberta Kaplan.
Trump was actually held liable for the 2022 comments before the 2019 comments because of a legal dispute over whether Carroll can sue Trump for comments he made while sitting US president.
The only key elements Trump didn't repeat in recent days were that Carroll may have had ulterior motives - such as selling a book - and that she was "not my type," something he said in 2019 and 2022.
Expert is certain: Another defamation lawsuit against Trump would not be a “close thing”
A defamation lawsuit typically requires proof not only that a comment was false, but also that it was made with “actual malice.”
Therefore, it must be proven that his knowledge was false or that he recklessly ignored the truth - and that the plaintiff was harmed by the comment.
The first hurdle should be easy to overcome if Trump repeats such statements even after his conviction.
The second hurdle would depend on whether Carroll can prove that the recent comments harmed her in some way.
According to libel experts, Carroll would have a good case.
“I don’t think this is a close call: Carroll could sue again in one or both cases and should easily win again,” said Don Herzog of the University of Michigan Law School in an emailed response to questions.
“He doesn't have to use the words 'she's lying' to call her a liar;
it is (more than) enough that he calls her accusation false.”
Trump is already in financial difficulties – almost half a billion in fines
Defamation lawyer Tre Lovell added that if Trump continues to say these things, it could drive punitive damages even higher — possibly into the hundreds of millions.
The $83.3 million verdict followed an earlier $5 million verdict, only part of which was for defamation.
"The fact that he continues to make such statements shows that the previous ruling was not enough to dissuade him from future defamations," Lovell said. "Trump's lawyers will argue that she has already been compensated for emotional pain or general damages, or." that since it is old news, no new harm will come to it.
However, this does not affect the aspect of punitive damages, which can be very high.”
Trump's continued attacks on Carroll are particularly surprising considering that he appears to be in financial trouble.
In addition to paying the $91 million bail, he must cough up over $400 million in the financial fraud case in which he was also found liable.
His lawyers have recently sought to reduce the amount of his bail in the case, while suggesting it would be very difficult to raise the funds.
Given this, repeating a version of statements that have already been deemed defamatory does not seem to be a good idea.
But Trump has also made it clear that he doesn't necessarily listen to the advice of lawyers - or the legal system.
To the author
Aaron Blake
is a senior political reporter writing for
The Fix.
A Minnesota native, he has also written about politics for the
Minneapolis Star Tribune and
The Hill
newspaper
.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on March 12, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.