Trump Kicks Off E. Jean Carroll Appeal by Begging for Another Lawsuit
Donald Trump is trying to appeal a multimillion-dollar judgment against him for defaming writer and author E. Jean Carroll. In a press conference Friday, though, Trump continued to attack her, accusing Carroll of lying.
“I should be suing [E Jean Carroll] for defamation,” Trump said, noting that “this is not the kind of publicity you’d like.”
“She has gone around for years saying this story, and it’s a total lie.… This whole thing started, along with just about every case I’ve been involved with, with the political campaign of Harris, who’s having a bad time,” Trump added.
Trump described Carroll as “a woman I have never met, I don’t know, I have no idea who she is,” before accusing her of making up the sexual assault to promote her book. These were the exact grounds that opened Trump up to the first defamation lawsuit in 2019.
Repeating such a lie probably isn’t the best idea, as Trump already owes Carroll $88.3 million for sexually abusing and defaming her. On Friday, oral arguments began in his appeal against a $5 million defamation judgment, which spurred his press conference rant. Carroll could easily have more legal ammunition from Trump’s press conference alone, where he even accused her of taking her accusations from a Law and Order episode.
Trump on E Jean Carroll: "She made up a story. Fabricated 100 percent, that I attacked her ... her favorite show is Law & Order. And there's almost an exact story as her story in Law & Order about being attacked in the dressing room of a department store." pic.twitter.com/osVuTX9GZ9
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 6, 2024
It’s a recurring pattern for the former president and convicted felon, who can’t stop complaining about and attacking Carroll despite the legal judgments against him. During Friday’s press conference, Trump even went off on a tangent mentioning other possible sexual assault accusations against him, which probably freaked out his lawyers.
While Trump experienced some good news earlier on Friday when Judge Juan Merchan decided to delay the sentencing in his hush-money trial until after the election, his press conference Friday isn’t likely to help his appeal against Carroll. Maybe he thinks he can keep escaping the consequences of his actions, no matter what he does.