When Donald Trump goes on trial in Manhattan again next week against writer E. Jean Carroll, the former president can’t argue that he didn’t sexually assault her, can’t repeat his common refrain that she’s a liar motivated by politics, money, or mental illness, or deny that he’s called her one already, a judge ruled Tuesday.
“Mr. Trump is precluded from offering any testimony, evidence, or argument suggesting or implying that he did not sexually assault Ms. Carroll, that she fabricated her account of the assault, or that she had any motive to do so,” Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan said in a written order granting several other requests by Carroll’s legal team.
“[The] material facts concerning the alleged sexual assault already have been determined, and this trial will not be a ‘do over’ of the previous trial.”
A Manhattan jury in May found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman changing room in the mid-1990s and defaming her as a liar in an October 2022 Truth Social post, awarding the former Elle columnist $5 million in damages. That trial addressed the second of two lawsuits she brought against Trump, which included battery and defamation claims.
The upcoming trial, set to start Jan. 16, will address the first lawsuit she filed in 2019. It accused Trump of defaming her when he was in the White House — and again after he lost at trial in May. The jury will only be asked to determine damages, with Kaplan already having found Trump’s remarks to be defamatory. Carroll is demanding at least $12 million this time around.
Trump’s lawyer did not return a call seeking comment. Carroll’s attorney declined to comment.