Carroll seeks at least $10M for Trump’s post-verdict remarks

NEW YORK — E. Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who won a $5 million sexual abuse and defamation award against former President Donald Trump, is seeking at least $10 million more in a court filing Monday that seeks to hold him liable for remarks he made after the verdict.

The amended lawsuit was filed in Manhattan by Carroll’s lawyers, who said Trump “doubled down” on derogatory remarks about the former Elle magazine columnist during a cable television appearance a day after the verdict.

“It is hard to imagine defamatory conduct that could possibly be more motivated by hatred, ill will, or spite,” they wrote of Trump’s remarks at a CNN town hall. “This conduct supports a very substantial punitive damages award in Carroll’s favor both to punish Trump, to deter him from engaging in further defamation, and to deter others from doing the same.”

A nine-person jury two weeks ago decided Trump had sexually abused Carroll at an upscale Manhattan department store in early spring 1996. It also found that Trump had made false statements that damaged her reputation after she went public with her allegations in a 2019 book.

Carroll testified during the trial that Trump raped her in a department store dressing room.

Trump, who is campaigning for the presidency, did not attend the trial or testify.

The jury decided Carroll hadn’t proved she had been raped, but found that Trump had sexually abused her. Trump continues to deny that the attack happened. He said Carroll made up the allegation to help sell her book.

Joe Tacopina, a Trump lawyer, declined to comment on the new legal claim.

Carroll defamation claims against Trump have proceeded in two separate lawsuits, one decided in the trial that just concluded, and another that previously dealt only with derogatory remarks that Trump made in 2019 while he was still president.