Last week a woman announced that she is suing President Trump for defamation. E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit stems from the president’s reaction to her claim in a book that she was raped by him in New York City in the 1990s – 23 years ago.
Ms. Carroll, now 75 years old, is not suing Trump for the alleged sexual assault. She is suing him over his statements to the press when he was asked about her story. According to an interview Trump gave to The Hill at the White House, he said, “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened.”
Carroll’s legal team filed a motion requesting permission to permit Ms.Carroll to serve the papers to the White House and Trump Tower. A request was also made to email the papers to six of the president’s lawyers. She claims her reputation as a writer – she is currently an advice columnist for Elle magazine – is damaged by Trump’s denial of her claim. Last weekend Carroll participated in Glamour’s Women of the Year summit. During her interview with actress Judith Light, she spoke about suing the president. She revealed a little nugget of interest, that she is having some trouble getting to the president to deliver the papers. Imagine that. The Secret Service is doing their job.
“I’m trying to speak out,” she began. “We have now spent the last week trying to serve the lawsuit to the president. Taxpayers pay for the Secret Service — the Secret Service is not permitting the server to bring a complaint to him. My lawyer, the great Roberta Kaplan, has filed a motion with the court for us to go around that — to email him. Or to tweet him! You all are paying for the Secret Service to block a lawsuit going against the president.”
Nonetheless, she persists. She launched into an odd little rant about her lawyer. Carroll thinks the lawyer, Roberta (Robbie) Kaplan is a badass that will not stop until the job is done.
But roadblocks be damned, Carroll is confident that she and her lawyer will rectify the situation.
“Remember when the Nazis marched on Charlottesville? They said, ‘We’ll be back.’ The reason why the Nazis never returned to Charlottesville is one petite little Jewish woman by the name of Robbie Kaplan,” Carroll continued. “Robbie Kaplan is the one who overturned [the Defense of Marriage Act], who has brought gay rights to all Americans. She is co-founder of Time’s Up. Don’t tell Robbie Kaplan she can’t serve papers to the president of the United States. Persistence.”
I don’t think anyone told Ms. Kaplan that she can’t serve the papers. I think she just hasn’t figured out exactly how to do it. I imagine this is the first president to whom she has served, or tried to serve, papers.