This past weekend, I shared what I believe are the real reasons Donald Trump showed up for oral argument Friday in his appeal of E. Jean Carroll’s first civil judgment against him. But I didn’t focus on what happened during the oral argument itself — or his alleged “press conference” afterward.
Friday’s argument – where the legal The focus was on whether the admission of evidence of Trump’s alleged prior sexual assaults was wrong, and if so, whether that error was harmless — turned out to be far less about Carroll herself than about another octogenarian, Jessica Leeds. Shortly after the “Access Hollywood” tape leaked in 2016, Leeds alleged that an “octopus”-looking Trump groped her breasts and grabbed her up her skirt as they sat in adjacent seats in the first-class cabin of an airplane in the late 1970s. And her testimony in Carroll’s first trial, Trump’s lawyers argued, should not have been admitted because it was not yet a federal crime to commit sexual assault on an airplane at the time of the alleged assault.
The amount of time spent discussing Leeds’ testimony was a surprise, yes. But the real shock came hours later when the former president, holding court in Trump Tower, decided to attack Leeds, insisting that “she made up the story,” and continuing in part:
Think about the impracticality of this. I’m famous. I’m on a plane. People are getting on the plane, and I look at a woman, and I grab her and start kissing her and making out with her. What are the chances of that happening? What are the chances? And honestly, I know you’re going to say, “That’s a horrible thing to say,” but it couldn’t have happened. It didn’t happen, and she wouldn’t have been the chosen one.
Perhaps Trump realized what he had said and concluded ruefully, “I guess she’s going to sue me for defamation now.”
While Leeds has not filed a lawsuit, it is unclear whether Trump’s prediction is incorrect. Leeds said at a press conference Monday that she is “considering a number of options” following Trump’s “latest comments.”
It may seem odd that Leeds would bring a lawsuit now; after all, the alleged incident itself, as Leeds acknowledged, occurred nearly 50 years ago. But the timeliness and validity of a defamation claim does not depend on the age of the underlying events, but rather on whether the defendant knowingly and maliciously makes a false statement.
That’s why, for example, Carroll successfully sued Trump twice: once for comments he made in June 2019 after an excerpt from her book was published in New York magazine, and again after an October 2022 social media post reiterating his attacks on Carroll. That post — in an eerie parallel to his Leeds bashing — accused Carroll of making up the story, claimed the attack never happened, and insisted Carroll wasn’t his type. It’s also why when Trump, days after Carroll’s initial lawsuit victory, again publicly denied knowing Carroll and called her story bogus, a judge allowed Carroll’s lawyers to file even bigger damages at her second trial.
And that is why Leeds is now considering taking legal action. The only question is whether her claim will be even stronger after Tuesday night’s debate.
Why, you wonder, would That be the case? Remember, Kamala Harris’ main goal in Tuesday’s debate is to show that she is ready and capable of being president on Day 1. The key to her case — and there are indications that she is approaching the debate as a process in which she bears the burden of proof — is to highlight her own fitness for office versus that of her opponent. And given that her 30-year history in public service includes years of prosecuting sex crimes, is it likely that she will, somewhere, somehow, bring up the panoply of women who have accused Trump of sexual assault? I’d bet on it — and I’d also bet that Trump lashes out at one or more of those accusers.
The crux of the matter? Tuesday’s debate could mark the first time in American history that a major party nominee has helped a potential defamation plaintiff go from the press conference to the courtroom. Something tells me Leeds may be one of the debate’s most attentive viewers.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
