Writer E. Jean Carroll sought on Monday to amend the first of two defamation lawsuits against Donald Trump to demand at least $10 million in additional damages, citing comments he made on CNN after a jury found him not guilty of rape but liable for sexually abusing her.
A federal jury in Manhattan on May 9 found Trump abused Carroll in the 1990s and then defamed her by lying about it in October 2022. The jury ordered him to pay Carroll $5 million in damages.
Trump has appealed the verdict and has called Carroll's claims a "complete con job."
On Monday, Carroll's lawyers pointed to Trump's posts on Truth Social calling the verdict a "disgrace" and criticism of Carroll on CNN on May 10 in arguing that she should be allowed to amend her earlier lawsuit, which alleges Trump defamed her by denying the incident in 2019 comments, while he was president.
Trump's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
During a CNN town hall the day after the verdict, Trump said he "never met this woman" and called Carroll's account a "fake," "made up story" invented by a "whack job." Those statements are the basis of Carroll's new filings.
Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, filed her second lawsuit for both defamation and battery after New York passed a law giving sexual assault victims a new window to sue even if the statute of limitations had passed.
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