Donald Trump was sued for defamation a second time on Thursday by a writer who accused the former US president of lying by denying that he raped her 27 years ago.
\nIn a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll also accused Trump of battery in an alleged encounter at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan.
\nCarroll, 78, brought the battery claim under New York\u2019s Adult Survivors Act, a new law giving sexual assault victims a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers, even if the abuse occurred long ago and statutes of limitations have expired.
\nThursday, Thanksgiving Day, was the first day that accusers could sue.
\nTrump, 76, has denied raping Carroll or knowing her at the time, and said she was \u201cnot my type\u201d.
\nHis first denial in June 2019 prompted her to sue for defamation five months later.
\nHe repeated the denial in an October 12 post on his Truth Social account, calling Carroll\u2019s claim a \u201choax\u201d and \u201clie\u201d, prompting the new defamation claim.
\nBoth sides are awaiting appeals court decisions addressing Trump\u2019s argument that he was legally immune from Carroll\u2019s first lawsuit because he had spoken in his capacity as president.
\nIf courts agreed that the US government, which has sovereign immunity from defamation claims, could be substituted for Trump as a defendant, Carroll\u2019s first lawsuit would fail.
\nThat would likely not affect her second lawsuit because Trump is a private citizen, having left the White House in January 2021.
\nCarroll is seeking unspecified damages. To support her battery claim, she said Trump caused her lasting psychological harm and left her unable to sustain a romantic relationship.
\nThe first lawsuit is scheduled for trial on February 6, 2023, before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, but will likely be delayed because of the appeals process.
\nAt a hearing on Tuesday, Carroll\u2019s lawyer Roberta Kaplan asked for an April 10 trial covering both lawsuits, saying they have substantial overlap.
\nTrump\u2019s lawyer Alina Habba sought a May 8 trial for only the first lawsuit. She also told the judge a longer delay made sense because Trump had not hired a lawyer for the second lawsuit.
\n\u201cYour client in the present action, Ms Habba, has known this was coming for months, and he would be well-advised to decide who is representing him in it,\u201d the judge responded.
\nJudge Kaplan said he may decide early next week how to schedule both lawsuits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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