Trump and Jean Carroll agree to combine defamation lawsuits into single trial

Cami Mondeaux

March 18, 09:25 AM March 18, 09:25 AM

Former President Donald Trump has agreed to combine two defamation lawsuits filed against him by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the 1990s and later sued after he claimed she lied about the allegations.

An attorney for Carroll wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday to request the separate defamation lawsuits be consolidated into one, noting the move would be crucial to avoid “jury confusion” as both cases focus on the same factual question. If approved, the trial would begin on April 25 and cover damage and liability from both cases.

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“Because of the overlapping nature of these proceedings, a single trial will reduce costs across the board, avoid the risk of inconsistent factual rulings or jury confusion, and economize matters for the Court (as well as for both parties’ witnesses),” Carroll’s attorney wrote.

The agreement marks the latest in a yearslong legal battle brought by Carroll, who sued Trump for defamation in 2019 after he denied claims he had raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s. Carroll filed the suit after Trump repeatedly denied the allegations, describing her as “not my type.”

Carroll filed a second lawsuit in October after Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the allegations were a “hoax and a lie.” As part of the second suit, Carroll also sued the former president for battery after New York passed a law giving victims of sexual assault the opportunity to sue their alleged perpetrators even if the statute of limitations had expired.

Trump has vehemently denied raping Carroll, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store after an alleged encounter in the mid-1990s. Trump has also pushed back on accusations of defamation, arguing his denial was a fair response to her claims.