Judge Dismisses Donald Trump’s Countersuit Against E. Jean Carroll, Upholding $5 Million Verdict for Battery and Defamation

A federal judge in New York has dismissed former President Donald Trump’s countersuit against E. Jean Carroll, the writer who won a $5 million verdict against him for battery and defamation earlier this year.

Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled Monday that the jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll during an encounter in the dressing room of a New York City department store in the mid-1990s. This finding, Kaplan noted, showed that Carroll had maintained that Trump had raped her.

In May, a civil trial jury found that Trump “sexually abused” Carroll and awarded her $5 million, but did not find him liable for “rape.” Trump then filed his counterclaims against Carroll in June, alleging she defamed him by continuing to say publicly that he’d raped her even after the jury found him not liable for doing so.

However, Kaplan said in his 24-page ruling Monday that the jury found Trump raped Carroll “as the term is understood more broadly.” He wrote that while the jury concluded Trump was not liable for rape according to New York penal code — which requires the use of physical force — the jury found that Trump had “engaged in conduct that constituted extreme and outrageous conduct, and that Carroll had suffered severe emotional distress as a result.”

The ruling marks a victory for Carroll, who has been seeking justice for her allegations against Trump since 2019. The case is set to move forward with a hearing scheduled for December.