The judge determined that Carroll’s lawyers will be allowed to hand the Manhattan District Attorney’s office a recording and transcript of a deposition of Trump they took for the lawsuit in the fall season.
On Monday, federal judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed a defamation counterclaim filed by Donald Trump against E Jean Carroll in which he argued the writer harmed his reputation by publicly claiming that he raped her after a civil case found him liable for battery but not rape.
In another order, the judge determined that Carroll’s lawyers will be allowed to hand the Manhattan District Attorney’s office a recording and transcript of a deposition of Trump they took for the lawsuit in the fall season. This means that Trump's sworn testimony in the case with Caroll could now be utilized against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is attempting to criminally prosecute the former president.
Carroll, 79, has filed another lawsuit against the former president, accusing him of defaming her via comments he made after she said that he had raped her, however, that case is still pending.
The comments in question were said during an interview Carroll did with CNN the day after a $5 million verdict was handed down in May. In response to those who said he had not raped her, she said, "Oh yes, he did. Oh yes, he did." During that same interview, she recalled telling Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina that "He did it and you know it" while shaking his hand.
According to CNBC, Kaplan wrote in his dismissal of the counterclaim that Carroll's statements were "substantially true" because the jury found that while Trump had not raped Carroll with his penis, the act of 'digital penetration' still fell under the same umbrella.
"Both acts constitute 'rape' in common parlance, its definition in some dictionaries, in some federal and state criminal statutes, and elsewhere,” Kaplan argued. According to New York law, a charge of rape is only applicable in cases where the penis is used.
Trump's legal team has stated it intends to appeal the ruling.
Since Kaplan ruled on Monday that footage and a transcript of a deposition given by Trump last year for the civil suit can be provided by Carroll's lawyers to Bragg's office and used in a pending criminal case against him, more legal trouble could come Trump's way.
In the deposition, Trump stated that the alleged rape "didn't happen," and discussed the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which he was caught bragging about being able to touch women without consent because of his star power.
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