Former President Donald Trump’s attempt to invoke absolute presidential immunity and free speech rights as defenses against defamation claims made by New York columnist E. Jean Carroll were rejected by a federal judge on Thursday. In a written opinion, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan stated that Carroll can proceed with her claims seeking at least $10 million in damages from Trump for his remarks both before and after she won a $5 million sexual abuse and defamation verdict against him last month.
Trump argued for the dismissal of the lawsuit on three grounds: absolute presidential immunity, lack of defamatory statements, and protection of his statements under free speech rights. However, Judge Kaplan determined that Trump waived his absolute presidential immunity defense by not raising it when the lawsuit was initially filed. The lawsuit was delayed due to legal issues being considered by appeals courts.
In a counterclaim filed this week, Trump accused Carroll of libel for persistently claiming that he raped her despite the jury’s finding to the contrary. Following the jury’s verdict, Trump made comments during a CNN town hall that prompted Carroll to assert new defamation claims in her ongoing lawsuit.
The jury award was a result of a sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit filed last November, taking advantage of a temporary New York state law that enabled victims of sexual assault to seek damages for attacks that occurred even decades earlier. Trump’s comments during the CNN broadcast echoed his previous statements made while he was president in 2019, when Carroll published a memoir alleging that he raped her in a luxury Manhattan department store fitting room in 1996.
Judge Kaplan highlighted that the primary purpose of presidential immunity is to prevent the president from being distracted from their official duties. However, he emphasized that this immunity does not grant the president a “get-out-of-damages-liability-free card” for conduct disassociated from their official functions.
Considering Carroll’s age of 79 and her pursuit of claims against Trump for over three years, Kaplan concluded that there was no basis to further prolong the resolution of the litigation by allowing Trump to assert his absolute immunity defense at this late stage when he had the opportunity to do so earlier.
Regarding Trump’s argument that Carroll’s lawsuit involved protected speech, Kaplan provided an explanation of how defamation is addressed in court and why Trump’s statements aligned with the legal definition of defamation, especially considering the jury’s prior determination.
Trump’s legal team did not immediately comment on the ruling. Attorney Robbie Kaplan, who represents Carroll and is not related to the judge, expressed satisfaction with the decision and stated that it removes another obstacle to the trial on January 15 regarding Carroll’s defamation damages.
Please note that The Associated Press generally refrains from naming sexual assault victims unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.
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