E. Jean Carroll Says She's First To Hold Trump 'Accountable for His Lies'

E. Jean Carroll has stated that she and her attorney are "the first people to hold Donald Trump accountable for his lies," two months after emerging victorious from a defamation court battle against the former president.

Former Elle columnist Carroll, 79, sued Trump, 77, for battery, as well as defamation over comments he made while denying allegations that he raped her in a dressing room in New York City department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s. On May 9, a jury found Trump civilly liable of sexually abusing Carroll but not of rape, and Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages.

One day after the civil trial ruling, Trump appeared at a CNN town hall where he once again attacked and insulted Carroll as a "whack job," denied he ever met her and suggested the abuse claim was a "made-up story."

In response, Carroll is seeking an amendment to a separate defamation lawsuit she filed against Trump in 2019—which has been delayed through numerous appeals—in order to include the comments made during the town hall. She is now seeking an additional $10 million in monetary damages from Trump because he is continuing to publicly insult her.

Trump on Wednesday announced that he will appeal the defamation lawsuit after the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently ruled that the real estate mogul is not immune from liability in the case.

In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump hit out at the "political witch hunt" against him after the DOJ announced he was not acting under the scope of office when he allegedly made defamatory statements in 2019 about Carroll. These statements include suggesting the attack never occurred as Carroll is "not my type" and claiming she made up the assault to increase sales of her book.

One day before Trump announced his appeal plans, comedian Kathy Griffin—who is a vocal critic of the Republican politician—shared a video on TikTok of a celebrity dinner party held at her oceanfront home in Malibu, California, where Carroll was the guest of honor.

Flanked at the dinner table by married actors Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, Carroll was seen following Griffin's rules by taking her turn in introducing herself to the other guests by summarizing her life, career and achievements.

"I'm E. Jean. I was born and raised in the sticks in the hills of Indiana," she said in the video. "I became Miss Cheerleader USA. I went on to become a journalist."

"And Robert Kaplan, my attorney, and I are the first people to hold Donald Trump accountable for his lies," Carroll added, prompting the guests—who included musician Aimee Mann and 3rd Rock From the Sun star Kristen Johnston—to cheer and applaud while giving the writer a standing ovation.

Captioning the video, Suddenly Susan star Griffin commented, in part: "If you don't know who E. Jean Carroll is you're going to hell in a hand-basket."

Griffin also shared the clip on Instagram, where she wrote: "I hold old school 'salons' at my house, I'm bringing back the art of conversation. This salon was in honor of the great @ejeancarroll1. No phones, just great minds and great people."

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Trump via email for comment.

The DOJ's ruling that Trump is not immune from liability in the defamation case means that it will not substitute itself as the defendant in the lawsuit, which would effectively end Carroll's case as the government cannot be sued for defamation. The former president must defend himself in the case and is at risk of being found liable for defaming Carroll once again.

Trump has now described the decision as a "travesty of justice" and that he will appeal Carroll's lawsuit while once again claiming Carroll came forward with the abuse claims for publicity.

"The Carroll civil case against me is a Miscarriage of Justice and a total Scam. The trial was very unfair, with the other side being able to do and present virtually anything they wanted, and our side being largely and wrongfully shut down by an absolutely hostile, biased, and out of control judge. My lawyers, due to their respect for the Office of the President and the incredulity of the case, did not want me to testify, or even be at the trial," Trump wrote.

"The net result of this horrible INJUSTICE, where a completely unknown to me woman made up a ridiculous story, wrote it in a book to increase publicity and sales, I correctly disputed the story and got sued for Defamation, whereupon a hostile Judge and Jury shockingly awarded a woman who I don't know, have never known, and don't want to know, $5,000,000, while at the same time throwing out the Fake Rape claim. WE ARE STRONGLY APPEALING THIS TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE!!!"

The DOJ under both the Trump and Biden administrations previously stated that Trump was acting in his capacity as president when he denied the abuse allegations from Carroll in 2019.

However, in a letter to Trump's lawyers on Tuesday, the DOJ said that the recent decision from the New York jury in the civil trial shows that there is "prior history" between Carroll and Trump and that the former president's statements were not "sufficiently motivated by a purpose" to serve the government.

"A jury has now found that Mr. Trump sexually assaulted Ms. Carroll long before he became president. That history supports an inference that Mr. Trump was motivated by a 'personal grievance' stemming from events that occurred many years prior to Mr. Trump's presidency," the DOJ wrote.

In June, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Trump's attempt to have the 2019 Carroll lawsuit thrown out on the basis that his comments were protected under absolute presidential immunity.

"Mr Trump does not identify any connection between the allegedly defamatory content of his statements—that Ms Carroll fabricated her sexual assault accusation and did so for financial and personal gain—to any official responsibility of the president," Kaplan wrote in his ruling. "Nor can the court think of any."