Divided
A new law allows US columnist E. Jean Carroll to sue Donald Trump for alleged rape.
WASHINGTON, DC – 27 years after the alleged crime, Donald Trump must defend himself against rape charges. US columnist E. Jean Carroll sued the former president. Trump allegedly harassed her in a New York department store in 1995. Carroll filed the personal injury and reputational damage suit in a Manhattan, New York court.
The fact that Carroll was able to file a lawsuit against Donald Trump is due to a new law in the US state of New York that took effect on Thursday. This allows victims of alleged rape to sue the perpetrator for damages, whether or not the actual act is already time-barred. Alleged victims are given a one-year stint in the US East Coast state in which they can report past rapes. Carroll was according to the New York Times the first to file a lawsuit under the new law.
Donald Trump is being sued for rape by E. Jean Carroll
For Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll it is not the first dispute in court. The now 78-year-old reporter sued Donald Trump for defamation in 2019. In 2019, Carroll publicly accused then-President Trump of raping her in a locker room of an upscale department store in New York City in the 1990s. Trump denied the allegations, saying the former Elle magazine columnist was “totally lying.” He added, “He’s not my type.”
After that statement, Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump. But the New York billionaire has repeatedly managed to delay the lawsuit. Trump has sometimes asked the US Justice Department to cover his defense costs and legal work. His Argument: His controversial claims date back to when he was President of the United States. So Carroll is filing a lawsuit against the president, so the US government has to take up the defense as well.
Donald Trump: Attorney Responds to E. Jean Carroll’s Rape Allegation
Donald Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, commented on Thursday’s rape lawsuit against her client. Habba told AFP news agency that she respects and admires people who speak up. In this case, however, she “unfortunately represents a misappropriation of the law, which creates a serious precedent and risks delegitimizing the credibility of the actual victims”.
E. Jean Carroll remained silent for more than 20 years before writing her story with Donald Trump in a book in 2019, encouraged by the #MeToo movement against violence against women, which began in 2017. It is far from the only woman making rape allegations against Donald Trump. At least 25 women have accused the former president of sexual assault. (dil/dpa)
