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E. Jean Carroll, a former columnist who claims that former President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of a New York City department store in the 1990s, has hinted at her intentions for the $83.3 million she was awarded in her defamation lawsuit, should she receive the funds.
This interview marked her inaugural appearance after a jury’s verdict on Friday, which determined that Trump had intentionally harmed Carroll’s reputation in 2019 after she publicly disclosed her allegations, while he vehemently maintained her falsehood. The jurors granted her $18 million as restitution for the personal injury she endured, subsequently augmenting it by an additional $65 million as a punitive measure against Trump and potentially as a deterrent against future social media assaults.
Carroll said she wants to make a significant positive impact with the funds. While President Joe Biden’s team has not contacted her regarding campaigning against Trump, she appeared receptive to the possibility.
“I am willing to do everything within my power,” she stated during her appearance on “CBS Mornings.”
“I’m not going to waste a cent of this. We’re going to do something good with it. I’m going to be able to buy some premium dog food now,” she added, promising at least some luxury for her pets.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
BURLESON: “Point you’ve said that when you’ve faced the man, he’s just a man with no clothes on.”
CARROLL: “Yeah.”
BURLESON: “It’s the people around him that are giving him the power. What do you mean by that?”
CARROLL: “Well, Hans Christian Anderson’s great fairytale, ‘The Emperor Has No Clothes,’ is written about Donald Trump. It’s just — we’re the ones who clothed him in all this power. He has None himself. It’s his followers. It’s his hangers-on. In the court, they were strutting back and forth and handing him messages. It was — right, Robbie?”
DOKOUPIL: “Ms. Carroll — Ms. Carroll, you say he’s nothing. You say the emperor has no clothes. The emperor is trying to run for president —“
KING: “Yes.”
DOKOUPIL: “— again. And — and —“
KING: “And right now is leading —“
DOKOUPIL: “And right now the polls suggest it’s a coin flip. It’s very close. Have you heard from Joe Biden’s campaign arm about potentially campaigning against the former President Donald Trump?”
CARROLL: “No.”
DOKOUPIL: “Are you interested in doing so?”
CARROLL: “I’ll do anything I can.”
DOKOUPIL: “That’s a yes.”
WATCH:
Trump’s legal team plans to appeal the $83.3 million decision in the defamation lawsuit from Carroll due to an alleged “insane” conflict of interest with the presiding judge.
As Breitbart News reported, a jury awarded “an additional $83.3 million to former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who says former President Donald Trump damaged her reputation by calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault.”
Trump’s legal team announced their intention to appeal the ruling over the weekend.
Attorney Alina Habba argued that they were not aware of the prior mentorship between Judge Lewis Kaplan and Roberta Kaplan, E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer, during the 1990s. Although their last names are similar, the two individuals are not related.
“It was never disclosed. It’s insane and so incestuous,” Habba said, alleging that the past relationship had never been disclosed.
According to the Daily Mail, the conflict-of-interest allegations erupted from an “anonymous former Weiss partner, who reportedly claimed Roberta Kaplan—a junior associate—made an extra effort to stand out to the managing partners.”
The former partner claimed the judge served as Roberta Kaplan’s mentor.
“Before becoming a founding partner at law firm Kaplan, Keckler & Fink in 2016, Roberta Kaplan worked alongside the judge at Paul, Weiss Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison in Manhattan,” noted the Mail. “According to her LinkedIn, she started working at the firm in 1992, where Judge Kaplan was a partner until President Bill Clinton appointed him to the federal bench in 1994.”
Zak Sawyer, a representative for Roberta Kaplan, stated that she and the judge had a limited professional relationship.
