WASHINGTON − A federal judge in New York on Tuesday permitted E. Jean Carroll to amend her defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, a move that will allow her to seek additional damages.
Carroll is asking the court for an award of at least $10 million.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in the Southern District of New York came on the same day Trump was arraigned and pleaded not guilty in Miami on charges related to his handling of classified documents.
A day after a jury last month assessed Trump $5 million in damages for sexual abuse and defamation, Trump said during a CNN town hall that Carroll − a former magazine columnist − was a “whack job” who told a “made-up story.” Trump has appealed the verdict and the $5 million judgment against him.
Carroll’s attorneys said “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.”
The development was an incremental one: The court will still have to decide if Carroll is entitled to the additional damages. But it underscored the multiple legal problems that have ensnared Trump, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
Contributing: David Jackson
