Donald Trump can’t sue rape accuser to stop her defamation case, US judge rules
- The judge accused the ex-US president of ‘bad faith’ in needlessly delaying writer E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against him
- Carroll alleges Trump defamed her by saying he did not know her, accusing her of concocting the rape claim to sell her book and saying: ‘She’s not my type’
Donald Trump cannot sue E. Jean Carroll, a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s, on the grounds that her defamation lawsuit against him violated a New York state law intended to protect free speech, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan accused the former US president of “bad faith” by needlessly delaying the former Elle magazine columnist’s lawsuit, which began in November 2019 and could have “long ago” been decided.
“The defendant’s litigation tactics, whatever their intent, have delayed the case to an extent that readily could have been far less,” Kaplan wrote.
Letting Trump countersue “would make a regrettable situation worse by opening new avenues for significant further delay”, he added. Kaplan also said it would be “futile” for Trump to prove that his counterclaim belonged in federal court.
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said: “While we are disappointed with the court’s decision today, we eagerly look forward to litigating this action and proving at trial that the plaintiff’s claims have absolutely no basis in law or in fact.”