E. Jean Carroll is suing Trump for defamation over rape allegation

(Image credit: Craig Ruttle/AP)

published 4 November 2019

E. Jean Carroll, who accused President Trump of raping her two decades ago in a New York City department store, is now suing Trump for defamation.

Trump has denied ever meeting Carroll, and his allegation that the accusation came about because she was trying to promote her book prompted Carroll to file the lawsuit. "I am filing on behalf of every woman who has ever been harassed, assaulted, silenced, or spoken up only to be shamed, fired, ridiculed, and belittled," Carroll said in a statement.

Carroll, who is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, per The Washington Post, added that "no person in this country should be above the law — including the president," who she said in the lawsuit "brutally raped her."

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Trump and his legal team have often argued he can't be prosecuted for anything while in office, but there is some historical precedent for lawmakers going after a sitting president for pre-Oval Office sexual harassment allegations. And it wasn't too long ago. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.