E. Jean Carroll, the writer and columnist who accused President Trump of raping her, filed a defamation lawsuit against the president for claiming she fabricated the incident on Monday.
The columnist, 75, came forward in June and accused Trump of raping her nearly 25 years ago. According to a memoir published at that time, Carroll and Trump met at Bergdorf Goodman in late 1995 or early 1996. She alleges they talked and shopped together in the department store before he briefly penetrated her in a dressing room without her consent.
“I am filing this on behalf of every woman who has ever been harassed, assaulted, silenced, or spoken up only to be shamed, fired, ridiculed and belittled,” Carroll, who is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, said in a statement, the Washington Post reported. “No person in this country should be above the law – including the president.”
Her version of events from the incident in the department store were corroborated by two friends, but Trump denied it ever happened.
“Shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves, or sell a book, or carry out a political agenda,” Trump said at the time the allegation was made public. “It is a disgrace and people should pay dearly for such false accusations.”
He went on to claim that he “never met this person before in my life” and that she’s “totally lying” and “not my type.”
“I don’t know what type a woman needs to be for him to decide to sexually assault someone, but that kind of gratuitous insult about her appearance is the kind of the thing that juries and judges look to,” Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said. “It looks like malice.”
