A U.S. federal judge has bizarrely ruled that former President Donald Trump may not argue that he did not rape author E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s. Trump is set to face off against Carroll a second defamation trial next week. This decision follows another jury’s finding that Trump sexually abused Carroll. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan issued the order Saturday evening supporting Carroll’s request to exclude the defense’s argument that the previous jury’s conclusion was reached because they dismissed Carroll’s claim of rape.
Just months ago, another jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in a defamation case related to an alleged encounter in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, which Trump denied took place. The upcoming trial will determine additional damages for defamation linked to a statement Trump made in 2019 while he was still president, denying he knew Carroll and asserting that she invented the rape allegation to promote her book.
In defending their client, Trump’s legal team argued that the first jury’s verdict detracted from Carroll’s rape allegation. However, Judge Kaplan stated in his ruling that Carroll’s rape claim is “substantially true under common modern parlance,” even if it doesn’t match the New York legal definition of rape. Carroll is pursuing $10 million in compensatory damages, along with punitive damages. Both Carroll and Trump are set to testify.
KEY QUOTE: “Parents are urged to talk with their children about the dangers of using vapes with THC which contain potentially 
FLASHBACK:
