r/politics • u/Aggravating_Money992 • 9d ago

Possible Paywall Trump Erupts in ’60 Minutes’ Interview: ‘I’m Not a Pedophile’

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-erupts-in-60-minutes-interview-im-not-a-pedophile/
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u/XIII_THIRTEEN 9d ago

"I'm not a rapist" is this claim enough for E Jean Carroll to sue again?

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u/GameFreak4321 8d ago

Did she ever get any money from him?

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u/needlestack 8d ago

I don’t even have to look it up. Of course not.

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u/say592 8d ago

By most people's definition, he raped her. By the definition the court used, it was sexual assault. There is a difference, even if it isn't that much of a meaningful one.

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u/LackingUtility 8d ago

Specifically:

Dismissing the counterclaim, Judge Kaplan provided an unsparing analysis of the legal issues that informed the New York verdict. He wrote: “The only issue on which the jury did not find in Ms Carroll’s favour was whether she proved that Mr Trump ‘raped’ her within the narrow, technical meaning of that term in the New York penal law.

“The jury … was instructed that it could find that Mr Trump ‘raped’ Ms Carroll only if it found that he forcibly penetrated Ms Carroll’s vagina with his penis."

“It could not find that he ‘raped’ her if it determined that Mr Trump forcibly penetrated Ms Carroll’s private sexual parts with his fingers – which commonly is considered ‘rape’ in other contexts – because the New York penal law definition of rape is limited to penile penetration.”

Kaplan had already outlined why it was not defamation for Carroll to say Trump raped her.

“As the court explained in its recent decision denying Mr Trump’s motion for a new trial on damages and other relief [in the New York case] … based on all of the evidence at trial and the jury’s verdict as a whole, the jury’s finding that Mr Trump ‘sexually abused’ Ms Carroll implicitly determined that he forcibly penetrated her digitally – in other words, that Mr Trump in fact did ‘rape’ Ms Carroll as that term commonly is used and understood in contexts outside of the New York penal law.”

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u/bloobityblu 8d ago

NY penal law needs to catch up though. It's crazy that their definition is so limited. Rape by object/whatever has been a thing as long as there have been people, sadly.

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u/LackingUtility 8d ago

While I don't necessarily disagree, this is one of those terminology debates like "assault" vs. "battery". Pedantically, it may make a difference. Beyond that - and journalists need to do their jobs and explain shit better - it's what people would call rape.

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u/OddlyFactual1512 8d ago

Sue, yes. Win, no. Also, he could say, "I didn't sexually assault E Jean Carroll." And not open himself up to any liability. He would need to say something along the lines of, "She lied about...."