A Federal Judge on Friday, Rejected Trump’s effort to Dismiss a Lawsuit, in which the writer E. Jean Carroll accuses Trump of Raping her in a dressing room at a Fifth Avenue department store, in the mid-1990s.
In letting the Suit proceed, the Judge, Lewis A. Kaplan of Federal District Court in Manhattan, upheld a 2022 New York Law, that gives Adults who claim to have been Sexually Assaulted years ago, a One-Time Window, to sue those they say abused them, even if the period for doing so under the Statute of Limitations, has long since expired.
In his Ruling, which the Law’s Chief State Senate Sponsor, described as a First in New York, Judge Kaplan labeled “absurd” Trump’s Argument that the Legislation Violated the State’s Constitution.
Ms. Carroll, an Author and a former longtime Advice Columnist for Elle magazine, Sued Trump on Nov. 24th, 2022, the start of the period in which the Law, the Adult Survivors Act, allows such Suits to be brought.
Lawyers for Trump, who has Denied Ms. Carroll’s Accusation, sought to Dismiss the Suit, on the grounds that allowing Suits that were otherwise barred by the Statute of Limitations, was an Infringement of a Person’s Right to Due Process, and therefore in Violation of New York’s Constitution.
Judge Kaplan, in his 28-page Opinion, said the Fact that Adult Victims of Sexual Abuse “are legally and in some respects practically capable” of filing a Suit from the moment the Abuse occurs was “constitutionally immaterial. The elected branches of the New York State government have determined that many such victims are unable to do so, sometimes for long periods of time,” the Judge wrote.
Ms. Carroll, Filed Two separate Lawsuits against Trump.
She wrote about the alleged Assault in a 2019 Memoir, claiming that Trump had Attacked her in the Dressing Room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. The account was the most Serious of several Sexual Misconduct Allegations women have made against Trump, all of which he has Denied. After Ms. Carroll’s Account appeared as an excerpt of her Book in New York Magazine, Trump emphatically denied her Accusations, saying that she was “totally lying,” that the Assault had Never occurred, and that he could Not have raped her because she was Not his “type.”
Ms. Carroll filed a Defamation Lawsuit against Trump in New York, for making Disparaging Comments and branding her a Liar, after the publication of her Memoir. On Oct. 19th, 2022, Trump was questioned under Oath in the Case.
“They are prevented by suppression of awful memories or deterred by fear and a ‘culture of silence’ — just as Ms. Carroll claims she was dissuaded from reporting or suing Mr. Trump,” the Judge added.
New York State Senator Brad M. Hoylman (D-27th District), who sponsored the Law, hailed the Judge’s Ruling. “Judge Kaplan has affirmed in no uncertain terms that the State Legislature was within its constitutional authority to allow the survivors of sexual abuse to revive their time-barred claims and seek justice against their abusers,” Hoylman said in a Statement.
Trump’s Lawyer, Alina Habba, said in a Statement that she and her Client were “disappointed” with Judge Kaplan’s Decision but that they planned “to immediately appeal the order and continue to advocate for our client’s constitutionally protected rights.”
Roberta A. Kaplan, Ms. Carroll’s Lawyer, said in a Statement that she and her Client were “pleased though not surprised” by the Judge’s Ruling. Ms. Kaplan said that she and Ms. Carroll, were looking forward to the Trial in the Sexual Assault litigation. That Trial is scheduled to begin in April, 2023.
Judge Kaplan is also presiding in the Defamation Case. It, like the Rape Suit, has its origins in Ms. Carroll’s Assertion.
Claiming that Trump’s Comments had damaged her Reputation, Ms. Carroll filed the Defamation Suit, which has been tangled up in Litigation on Appeal. Last October, 2022, after Judge Kaplan denied Trump’s request to Delay his Deposition in the Defamation Case until the Appeal was Resolved, Mr. Trump lashed out at Ms. Carroll in a Social Media post with the kinds of Statements that had led her Originally to Sue for Defamation.
On Friday, Judge Kaplan ordered, over Trump’s Objection, that a Portion of the Deposition be made Public. In the excerpt from the Deposition, which was taken on Oct. 19th, 2022, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Residence and Private Club in Florida, Trump repeats his Denials about Ms. Carroll’s Claim, calling her a “Nut Job.”
He reiterates his Statement that Ms. Carroll is “not my type” while saying he knows that doing so is not “politically correct” and calls Ms. Kaplan, the Lawyer questioning him, a “disgrace” and a “political operative.”
“I will sue her after this is over, and that’s the thing I really look forward to doing,” Trump says about Ms. Carroll, adding of Ms. Kaplan: “And I’ll sue you too.”
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