RELENTLESS: Federal judge accepts E. Jean Carroll’s defamation and rape lawsuits against Trump
The recently implemented Adult Survivors Act in New York State gives sexual assault victims a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers, even if the abuse occurred long ago and the statutes of limitations have expired.
And as the state prepared for an influx of lawsuits, Donald Trump’s most prominent rape accuser became the first person to avail themselves of the new law literally the moment it went into effect last week.
E. Jean Carroll, the former Elle Magazine advice columnist and current author/podcaster/all-around badass Shero, has never changed her story about encountering Trump at Bergdorf Goodman’s in Manhattan in the late 90s, where she alleges he raped her in a dressing room.
Naturally, Trump has repeatedly denied raping Carroll or knowing her at the time, despite photos of Trump with Carroll at a party with her then-husband, New York TV reporter John Johnson.
The short-fingered vulgarian also used the misogynistic “she’s not my type” excuse and hid behind the protections of his former office.
Law and Crime’s Adam Klasfeld reported last week that the lawsuit alleges Trump’s conduct meets the standard of six crimes under New York’s penal code, including rape in the first degree, rape in the third degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, sexual abuse in the third degree, sexual misconduct, and forcible touching.
Trump’s first denial in June 2019 prompted Carroll to sue him for defamation five months later.
After Trump repeated the denial in an October 12th post on his Truth Social account, calling Carroll’s claim a “hoax” and “lie,” Carroll decided to file both the new defamation claim — as well as the newly available rape suit — on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, which was the first day that accusers could sue.
Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s lawyer, writes in the new lawsuit that her client’s residual trauma from her assault has impacted her both professionally and personally:
“As a result of the pain and suffering caused by Trump’s sexual assault, Carroll has not been able to sustain a romantic relationship since the day Trump raped her,” her lawyer Roberta Kaplan wrote in the lawsuit. “Nor has she engaged in sex with anyone since that time. Carroll has had difficulty trusting men and cannot maintain an intimate relationship. In Carroll’s own words the ‘music had stopped’ and the ‘light had gone out’ after Trump attacked her at Bergdorf’s.”
Carroll has also produced the dress she was wearing during the alleged rape which had Trump’s DNA on it, but his legal team has thus far refused to comply with a judge’s orders that he take a DNA test to confirm Carroll’s claims.
But her pal and fellow Shero Mary Trump helped out with that little technicality.
Mary Trump volunteering her DNA for the E. Jean Carroll case is the cherry on the Trump sundae.
— IT’S TIME FOR JUSTICE (@LiddleSavages) October 22, 2022
On Tuesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan — no relation to Carroll’s lawyer — accepted the suit’s proposed trial date of April 2023.
A federal judge accepts @EJeanCarroll's proposed trial date in her litigation accusing Trump of rape: April 10, 2023.
ICYMI, my write-up of the most recent lawsuit https://t.co/MdGTmisdX2 pic.twitter.com/Dx5dP67qVe
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) November 29, 2022
This suit is not just for me, it's for every woman who has been groped, grabbed, mauled, assaulted, demeaned, and dragged through the mud by a powerful man.
Thank you Matt Craig! @kaplanrobbie! @JoshuaMatz8! @shawngcrowley! @rachtuch!
— E. Jean Carroll (@ejeancarroll) November 24, 2022
E. Jean has been sharing her struggle on Twitter and has gained some major support, including from yours truly.
Team E. Jean showed their loyalty to the woman who might actually bring down Trump before anyone else can.
♥️ So awed by my friend @ejeancarroll who filed a case this morning under the New York Adult Survivors Act against her rapist Donald Trump. https://t.co/4sGZ2EI98o pic.twitter.com/XmKRETzxxJ
— Jennifer Taub (@jentaub) November 24, 2022
In April, Trump will be civilly tried for rape in the SDNY in connection w/ the case filed by @ejeancarroll who is rep'd by one of the best, @kaplanrobbie. This will be a difficult case for him to settle pre-trial and I believe he may be required to provide a DNA sample.
— Richard Signorelli (@richsignorelli) November 29, 2022
FINISH HIM! pic.twitter.com/WgxIX0mcQ9
— Turd Ferguson (@MrFergTurduson) December 21, 2020
Tara Dublin is a woefully underappreciated and unrepresented writer currently shopping a super cool novel that has nothing to do with politics while also fighting fascism on the daily.
Follow her on Twitter @taradublinrocks.
Editor’s note: This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.
