Carroll v. Trump

664 F.Supp.3d 550

E. Jean CARROLL, Plaintiff, v. Donald J. TRUMP, Defendant.

22-cv-10016 (LAK)

United States District Court, S.D. New York

Signed March 28, 2023

Roberta Kaplan, Joshua Matz, Shawn Crowley, Matthew Craig, Trevor Morrison, Michael Ferrara, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, Attorneys for Plaintiff.

Joseph Tacopina, Matthew G. DeOreo, Chad Derek Seigel, Tacopina Seigel & DeOreo, P.C., Alina Habba, Michael T. Madaio, Habba Madaio & Associates LLP, Attorneys for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Lewis A. Kaplan, District Judge.

Plaintiff E. Jean Carroll alleges in this case ("Carroll II") and a second very closely related case ("Carroll I") that businessman Donald J. Trump, as he then was, raped her in a New York department store in the mid 1990s. In Carroll I, she accuses Mr. Trump only of defaming her in a series of statements he issued in June 2019, shortly after Ms. Carroll publicly accused him of rape. In this action, Ms. Carroll brings two other closely related claims. First, she seeks to recover damages and other relief for the alleged rape pursuant to a newly-enacted New York law, the Adult Survivors Act ("ASA"), which created a one-year period within which persons who allegedly were sexually assaulted as adults could sue their alleged assaulters. Second, she alleges that Mr. Trump libeled her in a statement he published on October 12, 2022 on Truth Social, his social media platform.

The matter now is before the Court on Mr. Trump's motion for partial summary judgment dismissing only the libel claim based on Mr. Trump's October 12, 2022 statement. He contends that it is barred by the "absolute litigation privilege" which he mistakenly locates in Section 74 of the New York Civil Rights Law and which in relevant part provides:

"A civil action cannot be maintained against any person, firm or corporation, for the publication of a fair and true report of any judicial proceeding, legislative proceeding or other official proceeding, or for any heading of the report which is a fair and true headnote of the statement published."¹

For the reasons discussed below, Mr. Trump's motion is denied.

Facts

Mr. Trump's Allegedly Defamatory June 2019 Statements

Ms. Carroll's rape allegation first became public on June 21, 2019, when New York magazine published an excerpt from her then-forthcoming book that described Mr. Trump's alleged assault of her.² That same day, Mr. Trump issued a statement that was published on Twitter by the press:

"Regarding the 'story' by E. Jean Carroll, claiming she once encountered me at Bergdorf Goodman 23 years ago. I've never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book—that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section.

"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—like Julie Swetnick who falsely accused Justice Brett Kavanaugh. It's just as bad for people to believe it, particularly when there is zero evidence. Worse still for a dying publication to try to prop itself up by peddling fake news—it's an epidemic.

"Ms. Carroll & New York Magazine: No pictures? No surveillance? No video? No reports? No sales attendants around?? I would like to thank Bergdorf Goodman for confirming that they have no video footage of any such incident, because it never happened.

"False accusations diminish the severity of real assault. All should condemn false accusations and any actual assault in the strongest possible terms.

"If anyone has information that the Democratic Party is working with Ms. Carroll or New York Magazine, please notify us as soon as possible. The world should know what's really going on. It is a disgrace and people should pay dearly for such false accusations."³

On the following day, June 22, 2019, Mr. Trump made other statements to reporters:

"[Reporter]: [Y]ou had said earlier that you never met E. Jean Carroll. There was a photograph of you and her in the late 1980's—

"[Trump]: I have no idea who this woman is. This is a woman who has also accused other men of things, as you know. It is a totally false accusation. I think she was married—as I read; I have no idea who she is—but she was married to a, actually, nice guy, Johnson—a newscaster.

"[Reporter]: You were in a photograph with her.

"[Trump]: Standing with coat on in a line—give me a break—with my back to the camera. I have no idea who she is. What she did is—it's terrible, what's going on. So it's a total false accusation and I don't know anything about her. And she's made this charge against others.

"And, you know, people have to be careful because they're playing with very dangerous territory. And when they do that—and it's happening more and more. When you look at what happened to Justice Kavanaugh and you look at what's happening to others, you can't do that for the sake of publicity.

"New York Magazine is a failing magazine. It's ready to go out of business, from what I hear. They'll do anything they can. But this was about many men, and I was one of the many men that she wrote about. It's a totally false accusation. I have absolutely no idea who she is. There's some picture where we're shaking hands. It looks like at some kind of event. I have my coat on. I have my wife standing next to me. And I didn't know her husband, but he was a newscaster. But I have no idea who she is—none whatsoever.

"It's a false accusation and it's a disgrace that a magazine like New York—which is one of the reasons it's failing. People don't read it anymore, so they're trying to get readership by using me. It's not good.

"You know, there were cases that the mainstream media didn't pick up. And I don't know if you've seen them. And they were put on Fox. But there were numerous cases where women were paid money to say bad things about me. You can't do that. You can't do that. And those women did wrong things—that women were actually paid money to say bad things about me.

"But here's a case, it's an absolute disgrace that she's allowed to do that."⁴

Finally, on June 24, 2019, Mr. Trump stated in an interview with The Hill: "I'll say it with great respect: Number one, she's not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?"⁵

Carroll I

The Complaint

In November 2019, approximately five months after Mr. Trump's statements, Ms. Carroll sued Mr. Trump for defamation in the case now referred to as Carroll I. Her complaint, filed originally in a state court in New York, in relevant part alleges:

"11. When Carroll's account was published, Trump lashed out with a series of false and defamatory statements. He denied the rape. But there was more: he also denied ever having met Carroll or even knowing who she was. Through express statements and deliberate implications, he accused Carroll of lying about the rape in order to increase book sales, carry out a political agenda, advance a conspiracy with the Democratic Party, and make money. He also deliberately implied that she had falsely accused other men of rape. For good measure, he insulted her physical appearance.

"85. In the June 21 statement, Trump falsely stated that he did not rape Carroll.

"86. In the June 21 statement, Trump falsely stated that he had never met Carroll.

"87. In the June 21 statement, Trump falsely implied and affirmatively intended to imply that he had no idea who Carroll was.

"88. In the June 21 statement, Trump falsely implied and affirmatively intended to imply that Carroll had invented the rape accusation as a ploy for increased book sales.

"89. In the June 21 statement, Trump falsely implied and affirmatively intended to imply that Carroll invented the rape accusation to carry out a political agenda.

"90. In the June 21 statement, Trump falsely implied and affirmatively intended to imply that Carroll invented the rape accusation as part of a conspiracy with the Democratic Party.

* * *

"93. In the June 22 statement, Trump falsely stated that he did not rape Carroll.

"94. In the June 22 statement, Trump falsely stated that he had no idea who Carroll was.

"95. In the June 22 statement, Trump falsely implied and affirmatively intended to imply that Carroll had falsely accused other men of sexual assault.

"96. In the June 22 statement, Trump falsely implied and affirmatively intended to imply that Carroll had been paid money to invent the rape accusation against him.

* * *

"100. In the June 24 statement, Trump falsely stated that he did not rape Carroll.

* * *

"116. Trump's other defamatory statements about Carroll in June 2019 - that she had fabricated the rape accusation to increase her book sales, to carry out a political agenda, as part of a conspiracy with the Democratic Party, or in exchange for payment-rested on the express or deliberately - rested on the express or deliberately-implied premise that Carroll's underlying accusation was false. Because Trump knew that the accusation was true, he also knew that his other statements about Carroll were false."⁶

Mr. Trump's Answer

Mr. Trump served an answer, meaning a responsive court pleading, in Carroll I. His response to each of the complaint's allegations quoted above was that he "[d]enies the allegations contained in [the corresponding paragraph of the complaint]."⁷ He asserted also an affirmative defense that "[t]he alleged [June 2019] defamatory statements are true."⁸ He did not elaborate on his denials of Ms. Carroll's allegations or on his affirmative defense in his answer. He said nothing more in his answer in Carroll I about Ms. Carroll's allegations.

Mr. Trump's October 12, 2022 Statement

On August 8, 2022, more than three months before the effective date of the ASA, Ms. Carroll's counsel announced privately to her adversaries and to the Court that Ms. Carroll would sue Mr. Trump for damages for the alleged rape itself, as distinguished from the allegedly defamatory statements of June 2019, once the ASA became effective on November 24, 2022. That announcement was filed publicly on September 20, 2022.

On the...