Trump Dealt Another Loss to E. Jean Carroll as Judge Rules He Defamed Rape Accuser — And Will Have to Pay Damages

zz/Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx; AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr.

Former President Donald Trump was found liable on Wednesday for defaming former columnist E. Jean Carroll in the second case she has brought against the 2024 GOP frontrunner. The “partial summary judgment” in the case means the upcoming trial will be limited to only determining damages.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that Trump defamed Carroll by denying in June of 2019 he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the 1990s and accusing her of lying about the attack to sell copies of her book. In May, a jury verdict in a civil case led to Trump being ordered to pay Carroll $5 million for the sexual assault.

“Kaplan also rejected Trump’s claim that any damages awarded to Carroll, who is seeking $10 million, should be reduced because the earlier verdict covered some of them and she did not deserve to recover twice,” reported Reuters of the ruling.

Judge Kaplan wrote that the “jury found that Mr. Trump knew that his statement that Ms. Carroll lied about him sexually assaulting her for improper and ulterior purposes was false or that he acted with reckless disregard to whether it was false. Whether Mr. Trump made the 2019 statements with actual malice raises the same issue.”

“The jury considered and decided issues that are common to both cases,” Kaplan concluded. The case will still move to trial, beginning Jan. 15th the same day as the Iowa Republican caucus, but only to determine the amount of damages Trump will pay Carroll.

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