E Jean Carroll, who accused former US President Donald Trump of rape, has lost her lawsuit in a New York court. The decision, which was handed down on Tuesday, found that Trump had been protected from Carroll’s defamation suit by the US Constitution’s immunity clause.
Carroll had sued Trump in 2019 after the former president denied allegations that he had raped her in a dressing room of the Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s. Trump had responded to the allegations by saying “she’s not my type” and “false accusations diminish the severity of real assault.”
In Tuesday’s ruling, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan found that Trump had been protected by the US Constitution’s immunity clause, which protects a sitting president from being sued in state court.
The decision is seen as a major setback for Carroll, who had sought damages from Trump for the harm that she alleged he had caused her. While the ruling does not affect the criminal case, which still stands, it does mean that Carroll will not be able to seek civil damages from Trump.
The ruling also serves as a warning to other victims of sexual assault who may be considering filing such suits against powerful public figures.
