Judge in Carroll Case Says Trump ‘Raped’ Her, Though Jury Disagreed

U.S. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan says that former President Donald J. Trump may be said to have “raped” E. Jean Carroll, even though a jury specifically declined to find that he had done so in his recent civil trial in New York.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post reported the judge’s finding — approvingly, calling it a “clarification”:

[Kaplan] says that what the jury found Trump did was in fact rape, as commonly understood.

The filing from Judge Lewis A. Kaplan came as Trump’s attorneys have sought a new trial and have argued that the jury’s $5 million verdict against Trump in the civil suit was excessive. The reason, they argue, is that sexual abuse could be as limited as the “groping” of a victim’s breasts.

…

“The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,’ ” Kaplan wrote.

The jury found that Trump had not raped Carroll, but found him liable for sexual abuse and battery, based on claims about an encounter in a department store dressing room, though Carroll could not remember the year.

Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee, made several controversial rulings during the trial, including admitting the Access Hollywood leak from the 2016 election as evidence against Trump, who is appealing both the verdict and the $5 million damages.

Judge Kaplan has also allowed Carroll to seek additional damages for alleged defamation by Trump, who had criticized her claims in a CNN town hall. Kaplan set the trial for January 2014 — right before the GOP primary.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.