Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against author E. Jean Carroll for defamation, after Carroll previously sued him for alleged sexual assault.
In the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Trump claims that he was defamed by Carroll in an interview, even after the jury issued a verdict in early May, finding him liable for defamation and battery, but not guilty of rape.
“In response to that specific inquiry, Counterclaim Defendant disregarded the jury’s finding that Counterclaimant did not rape her, and replied: ‘Oh yes he did, oh yes he did,” Trump’s lawsuit said, according to ABC News.
“Donald Trump again argues, contrary to both logic and fact, that he was exonerated by a jury that found that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll by forcibly inserting his fingers into her vagina,” Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan said in response to Trump’s lawsuit, according to the outlet.
Kaplan pointed out that “four out of the five statements” in Trump’s lawsuit filing had been made “outside of New York’s one-year statue of limitations” while the other one would not hold up against a “motion to dismiss.”
The jury awarded Carroll roughly $5 million.
Carroll’s lawsuit accused Trump of having raped her in a department store in the 1990’s. In 2019 and 2022, Carroll went on to file civil lawsuits regarding the alleged incident, accusing Trump of defamation and battery, according to NPR.