Former President Donald Trump’s relentless public attacks on E. Jean Carroll, despite the $88.3 million judgments against him, may expose him to legal vulnerabilities. Attorney and Trump critic George Conway pointed out that Trump’s recent comments, made on CNBC’s Squawk Box, could open him up to specific legal risks.
Trump posted a $91.6 million bond as he appeals the Carroll verdicts, and he continues to berate Carroll, calling her allegations a “fake story” based on false accusations. The language he used mirrored the insults that sparked the defamation lawsuits in the first place.
Conway noted the significance of Trump’s attacks happening on CNBC, explaining that if Carroll were to sue, she might now be able to file in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, given Squawk Box’s location in Manhattan. This court would likely assign the case to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who oversaw the earlier lawsuits and awarded $88.3 million in damages against Trump.
Considering the potential third lawsuit’s focus on the same incident and substantially identical language, it seems likely that Judge Kaplan would apply a similar restriction to Trump’s defense, as he did in the previous trials. Conway drew parallels with a legal strategy employed by election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who filed a second lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani after winning a $148 million judgment for defamatory accusations related to the 2020 election fraud.
“But now that he libeled her on Squawk Box, which is anchored in Manhattan, she likely may now sue in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York,” Conway continued, which meant that “the case would be assigned to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan as a case related to the earlier two cases that produced $88.3 million in damages awards.”
If Carroll pursues a third lawsuit against Trump, it would likely center on the same incident that led to the first two lawsuits, and the judge might restrict Trump from re-litigating the issue he was previously barred from denying. This legal approach echoes the strategy employed by others who faced defamatory accusations from Trump or his associates.
