Donald Trump has a whole new E. Jean Carroll problem

| 10:20 am EDT May 28, 2024
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Leave it to Donald Trump to post his way into further legal trouble, thanks to his famous lack of impulse control. In a Memorial Day rant on Truth Social, Trump launched a gratuitous attack against E. Jean Carroll and the defamation cases she won against him. In so doing, he just opened the door to even greater liability.

“Happy Memorial Day to All,” Trump began, before quickly slamming Carroll, presiding Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Kaplan, and others as “Human Scum.” Trump again claimed that he never met Carroll aside from “a quick handshake at a celebrity event, 25 years ago, doesn’t count!” and that she was awarded “91 MILLION DOLLARS FOR ‘DEFAMATION’” in “TWO separate trials.”

Last year, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse at Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s and defamation against Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages. A new defamation trial ended in January when another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million over remarks Trump made criticizing her and denying her assault claims. (The required bond payment, representing 110% of the award, is just over $91 million.)

Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s lawyer, wasted no time responding to Trump’s “Human Scum” post. In a statement to Newsweek that “all options are on the table,” Kaplan made clear that Carroll reserves the right to pursue further legal action based on any new defamatory statements. Kaplan has suggested this before, such as after Trump referred to Carroll as “Ms. Bergdorf Goodman” and belittled her claim in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” a few months ago.

Kaplan noted that the statute of limitations for defamation ranges from one and three years, depending on the jurisdiction. Not only is there plenty of time for new defamation claims, but Kaplan stated that her legal team is at the ready, closely monitoring every statement Trump makes about Carroll. As much as Trump may love spewing inflammatory statements, he is learning (very slowly, apparently) that defamatory ones come with a hefty price tag. The bigger Trump’s mouth, the smaller his wallet.