Trump Can't Stop Defamation Suit By His Rape Accuser, State Justice Rules
President Donald Trump doesn’t have the grounds to stop a defamation lawsuit filed by a woman who accused him of raping her, a New York state justice ruled Thursday.
That decision is a big win for E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who wrote last year that Trump raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s. Last November, she sued the president for defamation after he accused her of lying about the incident and sought to collect a DNA sample from him.
Trump’s legal team asked the New York Supreme Court to put the case on hold and argued that a sitting president is immune to any civil lawsuits in state court. But state Justice Verna Saunders rejected that argument, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Trump couldn’t refuse a subpoena for his tax returns on the basis of holding presidential office.
That finding is “applicable to all state court proceedings in which a sitting President is involved, including those involving his or her unofficial/personal conduct,” Saunders wrote in her decision.
Carroll tweeted that she was excited to move forward with her case, which will also allow her to continue seeking Trump’s DNA. She says that she kept the dress she had on when Trump allegedly raped her and that genetic material a lab found on the dress may match his.
WE MOVE FORWARD!! Judge Verna L. Saunders has DENIED Trump's assertion of absolute immunity! My attorneys, @kaplanrobbie, @JoshuaMatz8 & Matthew Craig are chomping at the bit to begin DISCOVERY!
(This is the 2nd great ruling by a Black Woman today!)https://t.co/6yrP9BKBs2— E. Jean Carroll (@ejeancarroll) August 6, 2020
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said she looks forward to proceeding with the lawsuit, which can now play out in the final months of Trump’s reelection campaign.
“We are now eager to move forward with discovery so that we can prove that Donald Trump defamed E. Jean Carroll when he lied about her in connection with her brave decision to...
