NEW YORK (AP) – A columnist can proceed with a lawsuit alleging she was raped by former President Donald Trump in a department store a quarter-century ago, a federal judge ruled Friday, upholding a New York state law that temporarily allows victims of sexual abuse to sue. abusers.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the lawsuit alleging rape and defamation and seeking unspecified damages by writer E. Jean Carroll can proceed to trial because Trump’s challenge was without merit.
“The fact that Mr. Trump denied Ms. Carroll’s allegations does not enter into the analysis at this stage of the case,” wrote the Manhattan jurist. “What, if anything happens, will have to wait for further proceedings if the complaint survives the current motion.”
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said in a statement: “While we are disappointed by the Court’s decision, we intend to immediately appeal the order and continue to support our client’s constitutionally protected rights.”
In the ruling, Kaplan said the Adult Survivors Act is similar to the Child Victims Act, another New York state law that allows victims of sexual assault as children to sue their abusers years later.
“Mr. “Trump has given no good reason to reject the one-year revival period in the ASA as unreasonable when the nearly identical two-year revival period in the Child Victims Act has been reasonably accepted by all courts to consider,” Kaplan wrote.
The former president’s lawyer has asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit after Trump said the meeting at a luxury Manhattan department store never happened.
Trump said Carroll made the claim publicly for the first time in a 2019 book to generate book sales.
Carroll is a longtime Elle magazine columnist. She first sued Trump for defamation after he mocked her claiming that he assaulted her in late 1995 or early 1996 after they had a chance meeting at a department store and he agreed to help her pick out lingerie for a friend.
Trump has repeatedly denied the meeting, calling the allegations a “complete job” and saying “he’s not my type.”
“No pictures? No supervision? No video? No report? No flight attendant??” Trump said in one of the various statements and interviews. “People should pay dearly for these false accusations.”
Carroll sued Trump with rape charges in November, when the Adult Survivors Act took effect.
Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll who is not related to the judge, said in an email: “We are pleased though not surprised that Judge Kaplan denied Donald Trump’s motion to remove and uphold the constitutionality of New York’s Adult Survivors Act. We expect a trial in April. “
Need help? Visit RAINN National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or in National Sexual Violence Resource Center website.