(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Columnist E. Jean Carroll is attempting to cash in on a “very substantial” amount as a response to former President Donald Trump’s comments on the headline-grabbing rape case that ended earlier this month.
Carroll filed on Monday an amended lawsuit seeking a $10 million cash payment in compensatory damages and additional in punitive damages, WSLS reported.
“Trump’s defamatory statements post-verdict show the depth of his malice toward Carroll since it is hard to imagine defamatory conduct that could possibly be more motivated by hatred, ill will, or spite,” an attorney for Carroll wrote in the filed documents.
“This conduct supports a very substantial punitive damages award in Carroll’s favor both to punish Trump, to deter him from engaging in further defamation, and to deter others from doing the same,” the attorney continued.
A different verdict found Trump liable for $2 million for the sexual abuse and an extra $3 million for defamation, the New York Times reported.
Trump has repeatedly denied ever knowing the accuser. “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. This verdict is a disgrace — a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time!” Trump said on May 9.
The former president also used his May 10 CNN townhall to refuse claims that he had raped Carroll and accused the woman of being a racist.
“This woman, I don’t know her. I never met her. I have no idea who she is. I had a picture taken years ago with her and her husband, nice guy John Johnson,” Trump said at the time, also adding, “He was a newscaster, very nice man. She called him an ape, happens to be African American. Called him an ape – the judge wouldn’t allow us to put that in.”
Echoing previous comments, Trump called Carroll a “whack job.”
Attorney Roberta A. Kaplan told The Times on Monday that Trump’s remarks during the CNN town hall triggered Carroll into attempting to cash in more money.
“It makes a mockery of the jury verdict and our justice system if he can just keep on repeating the same defamatory statements over and over again,” Kaplan claimed.
Trump has not commented on the new filing as of Monday.
