Who Is E. Jean Carroll? Writer Suing Donald Trump After Accusing Him Of Rape

E. Jean Carroll, a writer who accused Donald Trump of rape twenty-five years ago, is now filing a new lawsuit against him. In a letter that was made public, E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer mentioned that she is looking to sue the former US President for ‘battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress’ under the New York State’s Adult Survivors Act. Carroll's attorneys have now indicated that they will sue Trump in November, as the new New York law will come into effect on November 24.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the newly formed law, which offers adult accusers a one-year window to bring forward civil claims against alleged sexual misconduct regardless of how long the act occurred. Roberta Kaplan, Carroll's lawyer has said that they now want the former President to testify under oath at a deposition. In 2020, Carroll's attorneys had also requested the Court to obtain rights to Trump's DNA sample to compare against a dress that Carroll claims she wore during the alleged rape.

Suggested reading: Did Donald Trump Ask Us To Protect Male Privilege Over Sexual Safety?

Who Is E. Jean Carroll?

E. Jean Carrol is an American author, journalist and columnist. The 78-year-old writer's column 'Ask E. Jean' was featured in Elle Magazine from 1993 to 2019, making it the longest-running column in American publishing by a writer.

Jean Carroll was also known to be the first contributing editor for Playboy magazine. The Michigan-born writer also wrote for the Saturday Night Live show in the mid-1980s, which eventually fetched her an Emmy Award nomination for outstanding writing in a musical show in 1987. She served as a contributing editor for several magazines including Vanity Fair and The Atlantic.

In 2019, E. Jean Carroll spoke out against Donal Trump and accused him of raping her in a dressing room in late 1995 or early 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Midtown Manhattan.

In June 2019, preceding to the release of her book What Do We Need Men For?, Carroll first revealed through a high-profile magazine that Trump assaulted her in late 1995 or early 1996 in New York City. While Trump denied the allegations and said that he had never met Carroll, the article she wrote revealed photograph evidence of their meeting.

In November 2019, the writer filed a defamation suit against Trump saying he damaged her reputation and caused her emotional pain. Trump had denied all allegations against him and instead accused Carroll stating that she used his name for the publicity of her new book. Trump's lawyer Alina Habba informed the media that he opposed combining both cases and that it was prejudicial to add new claims to the already filed case.

In an interview in 2019, Carroll revealed that she had begun keeping a loaded gun next to her while sleeping ever since she spoke out against Trump because while it was important to speak out, she was also scared of the repercussions of going public with her claims. 

Both Carroll and Trump will now have to wait for the Federal Appeal Court's decision to proceed with the defamation case after the final review of the case.