Judge signals Trump may be unable to countersue Jean Carroll in defamation case

[TexasTowelie]

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge signaled on Tuesday he may not let Donald Trump countersue E. Jean Carroll, a writer who accused the former president of raping her in the mid-1990s and is suing him for defamation.

At a hearing in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan suggested it might be futile for Trump to claim that Carroll's lawsuit violated a New York "anti-SLAPP" law protecting free speech, citing several courts that found similar laws did not apply in federal court.

"I question whether you have the right to do what you are seeking to do, because it seems to me it's entirely inconsistent with the notion of futility," Kaplan told Trump's lawyer Alina Habba. "It may not be the way I resolve this matter."

Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, accused Trump in a June 2019 book excerpt of having raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Midtown Manhattan.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/judge-signals-trump-may-be-unable-countersue-jean-carroll-defamation-case-2022-02-22/

[gab13by13]

1. OK folks, take your pot shots at me,

read the article about E. Jeanne Carroll. Bill Barr originally decided to defend the office of the presidency in the E. Jeanne Carroll defamation law suit. Bill Barr contended that when president Trump used slanderous remarks against the woman who accused him of rape that he could not be held responsible because when he "allegedly" slandered her he was performing the official duties of the president. Merrick Garland took over for Bill Barr and Garland agreed with Barr and is defending the office of the presidency.

An appeals court will make a decision whether former president Trump can be sued or not, in the meantime a district judge wants the trial to move forward which may happen within 6 months. Carroll's lawyer still wants a sample of Trump's DNA to see if it matches the DNA from Carroll's dress.

How many people believe that "allegedly" slandering a woman who claims Trump raped her is an official duty of the presidency? Merrick Garland believes it is. He did not have to take this case.

[UTUSN]

2. K&R