US judge tosses Trump suit over sexual abuse case

Warning: This article contains mentions of rape and sexual abuse.

A federal judge in New York on Monday, Aug. 7 tossed out a lawsuit by Donald Trump in which he claimed he had been defamed by a former magazine columnist after she won a sex abuse case against him. 

The former president was found liable in May for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in a New York department store in the 1990s—but not for raping her. 

Trump sought to turn the tables on the 79-year-old former Elle magazine columnist by filing his own suit in June arguing she had defamed him by continuing to tell US media that he raped her, despite the civil trial verdict.

But in his dismissal ruling on Monday, district judge Lewis Kaplan said Carroll's statements that Trump raped her are "substantially true." 

Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $5 million (P281 million) after the civil trial.

He denies the allegations and has appealed the judgment.

Carroll has sought new damages after Trump called her a "whack job" on CNN the day after the civil trial verdict. (AFP)