How many times does E. Jean Carroll need to sue Donald Trump before he gets the message? On Monday, the author submitted a court filing seeking additional damages from the former president after he repeated claims ruled as defamatory by a New York jury during a CNN town hall. Trump responded by once again calling Carroll a liar on Truth Social.
“I don’t know E. Jean Carroll, I never met her or touched her (except on a celebrity line with her
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African American husband who she disgustingly called the ‘Ape’),” Trump wrote. “I wouldn’t want to know or touch her, I never abused her or raped her or took her to a dressing room 25 years ago in a crowded department store where the doors are LOCKED, she has no idea when, or did anything else to her, except deny her Fake, Made Up Story, that she wrote in a book. IT NEVER HAPPENED. IS A TOTAL SCAM. UNFAIR TRIAL!”
A jury in Manhattan civil court ruled earlier this month that Trump was liable for sexual battery and defamation against Carroll, ordering him to pay $5 million in damages. The day after the ruling, Trump appeared on CNN for a widely discussed town hall. When questioned by host Kaitlan Collins about the verdict, Trump mocked Carroll and accused her of having faked her claims against him.
While Trump has appealed the ruling, Carroll seized on the statements made on CNN to seek additional damages.
Trump’s public rantings about Carroll were a source of contention throughout the trial. Trump never actually appeared in court, but Judge Lewis Kaplan rebuked his attorneys regarding their client’s public statements. “Your client is basically endeavoring, certainly, to speak to his quote-unquote public, but, more troubling, the jury in this case about stuff that has no business being spoken about,” he said, calling Trump’s social media posts “entirely inappropriate.”
Kaplan is not the only judge who’s grown tired of Trump’s disrespect towards proceedings in their courtroom. On Tuesday, Trump is expected to (virtually) appear before New York Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing his criminal trial on charges of falsification of business records. The hearing will lay out a protective order that prevents Trump from sharing or commenting on the material presented in the case that has not already been made public, as well as attacking witnesses. While the decision is not an explicit “gag order,” the former president shall be barred from accessing certain materials.
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