TRUMP CAN’T SUE RAPE ACCUSER TO STOP HER DEFAMATION CASE: JUDGE

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump cannot sue E. Jean Carroll, a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s, on the grounds that her defamation lawsuit against him violated a New York state law intended to protect free speech, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan accused the former U.S. president of “bad faith” by needlessly delaying the former Elle magazine columnist’s lawsuit, which began in November 2019 and could have “long ago” been decided.

“The defendant’s litigation tactics, whatever their intent, have delayed the case to an extent that readily could have been far less,” Kaplan wrote.

Letting Trump countersue “would make a regrettable situation worse by opening new avenues for significant further delay,” he added. Kaplan also said it would be “futile” for Trump to prove that his counterclaim belonged in federal court.

Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said: “While we are disappointed with the court’s decision today, we eagerly look forward to litigating this action and proving at trial that the plaintiff’s claims have absolutely no basis in law or in fact.”

Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for Carroll and not related to the judge, said she and her client “could not agree more” that the case should be over by now.

Carroll, 78, accused Trump in a June 2019 book excerpt of raping her in late 1995 or early 1996 in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in midtown Manhattan.

She said Trump defamed her when he told a reporter he did not know Carroll, accused her of concocting the rape claim to sell her book and said, “She’s not my type.”

In seeking a dismissal and damages, Trump invoked New York’s “ANTI-SLAPP” law, short for “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”