Following Donald Trump's legal loss against columnist E. Jean Carroll in early August, a federal judge on Wednesday ruled the former president is liable for defamatory statements he made about Carroll when she went public with claims he had sexually assaulted her in 2019.
Judge Lewis Kaplan's ruling means that the upcoming trial on Carroll's defamation claims will focus on the monetary damages he owes her. The trial is set to begin in January 2024.
Kaplan found that Carroll was entitled to a partial summary judgment due to Trump's liability in a previous lawsuit in May that found the former president had sexually abused Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the 1990s and defamed her when he said that he didn't rape her and that she wasn't his "type."
Carroll is seeking $10 million in damages, according to Reuters. The former Elle columnist was previously awarded $5 million in damages in the May verdict, which is now under appeal.
"The truth or falsity of Mr. Trump's 2019 statements therefore depends — like the truth or falsity of his 2022 statement — on whether Ms. Carroll lied about Mr. Trump sexually assaulting her," Kaplan wrote in his 25-page decision
Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, told The Messenger: "We look forward to trial limited to damages for the original defamatory statements Donald Trump made about our client E. Jean Carroll in 2019."
Trump is appealing Judge Kaplan's dismissal of Trump's own claim that Carroll defamed him when she reiterated that Trump had raped her, citing that jurors at the trial in May, also known as "Carroll II" had not found that he raped Carroll, but had instead sexually abused her.
"We remain very confident that the Carroll II verdict will be overturned on appeal, which will render this decision moot," Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement. "We also anticipate that the Second Circuit will stay this trial as it considers the meritorious defenses that have been raised by President Trump."
Following the ruling, legal analyst Lisa Rubin posted on X, formerly Twitter: "As predicted, E. Jean Carroll keeps winning. Judge Lew Kaplan, faced with competing motions on the impact of Carroll's May 2023 trial win, ruled this morning that Trump's liability was already established. The Jan. '24 trial will be on damages *only.*"
Trump is currently facing four separate criminal indictments on the federal and state level. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
