A New York Judge ruled in favor E. Jean Carroll and allowed her to amend the defamation suit she filed against Donald Trump, allowing for additional damages to be sought. Trump was initially found to be liable for his statements regarding an alleged assault on Carroll.
The Washington Examiner reports that she can now seek a larger amount from the former President, citing his comments made at a CNN Town Hall shortly after the original verdict.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in New York allowed E. Jean Carroll amend her original defamation suit against former President Donald Trump and allow her to seek further damages.
Carroll, a former columnist for a magazine, asked a court to amend the November 2019 lawsuit she filed so that she could pursue additional punitive damage after Trump repeated remarks about her at a town hall on May 11, comments that were similar to those found defamatory by a federal jury.
She wants at least $10 Million after a jury awarded Trump $5 Million in civil damages last month for defamation and sexual abuse.
Here’s a context of what Trump said during his CNN town hall that led to the decision.
Trump was quick in highlighting this aspect of the jury verdict during a CNN townhall held in New Hampshire a day after it reached its decision. He said “They said, ‘He didn’t Rape Her.’ And I didn’t Do Anything Else Either.”
“I don’t know who this woman is. This is a made-up story, a fake,” Trump said. He called Carroll a “whack-job” and went on a tangent regarding her ex-husband, and pet cat.
Carroll is now likely to ask the jury to double the amount she received. Given the outcome of the trial, they are most likely to do so. This could cost Trump $10 million. Carroll’s attorneys are clearly ecstatic about this development.
What else can you say? Carroll never seemed credible to me, but a jury’s verdict must be respected. It was unnecessary to continue talking about this case, since it did not have any political implications. Trump’s decision to appear on CNN and repeat the exact comments that a jury just found to be defamatory is a self-inflicted injury.
This is similar to his deposition, which was a comedy of errors he caused himself. He made it almost impossible for the jury not to find Carroll in favor. Her case was extremely weak.
Look, I’m sure some people will say that it doesn’t really matter. He is a billionaire, and he will pay whatever he has to. It’s indicative, however, of a larger problem: you cannot defeat the deep-state and bring about substantive government reform (you’ll remember, those things conservatives say they care about), unless you demonstrate a basic level discipline and competence. CNN makes a lot of money and chaos is the result if you don’t have those skills.
We have serious problems. In order for Trump to win a second term, and succeed in his goals, he cannot continue to act this way. This will be entertaining but also ineffective. At this point, the latter is much more important to me than the former due to the decline of the past several years.
