Appeals court rejects Trump’s use of presidential immunity in E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit
By Kara Scannell, CNN
(CNN) — A federal appeals court rejected Donald Trump’s use of presidential immunity in a bid to dismiss a civil defamation lawsuit brought by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.
The judges found that Trump waived using presidential immunity as a defense by not raising it earlier in the litigation over Carroll’s claim that Trump defamed her when, as president, he denied her allegations of sexual assault. The appeals court also affirmed the lower court’s ruling that rejected Trump’s motion for summary judgement.
“This case presents a vexing question of first impression: whether presidential immunity is waivable. We answer in the affirmative and further hold that Donald J. Trump (‘Defendant’) waived the defense of presidential immunity by failing to raise it as an affirmative defense in his answer to E. Jean Carroll’s (‘Plaintiff’s’) complaint, which alleged that Defendant defamed her by claiming that she had fabricated her account of Defendant sexually assaulting her in the mid1990s.,” the court ruled.
The case is set to go to trial in January.
“We are pleased that the Second Circuit affirmed Judge Kaplan’s rulings and that we can now move forward with trial next month on January 16,” Robbie Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, said.
Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said, “The Second Circuit’s ruling is fundamentally flawed and we will continue to pursue Justice and appropriate resolution. Previously, Habba said the Trump team would seek “immediate review from the Supreme Court.”
Carroll previously sued Trump separately in 2022 for sexual assault and defamation under the Adult Survivors Act for statements he made after he left office. The case went to trial and a jury found Trump liable and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
Her original lawsuit, brought in 2019, involves similar statements Trump made while president that year. That case is set to go to trial over damages in January.
This story has been updated with an updated statement from Trump’s attorney.
The-CNN-Wire
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