Donald Trump Just Shot Himself in the Foot With His New York Times Lawsuit – CCN.com

Donald Trump just fired a warning shot at the fake news media hes long criticized. Trump is suing both the New York Times and the Washington Post for allegedly printing untrue information about his impeachment proceedings.

By bringing these lawsuits, Trump has surprisingly left himself vulnerable to prosecution for other legal matters.

Two women have filed defamation lawsuits against Donald Trump. Jean E. Carroll and Summer Zervos have accused the President of making forceful sexual advances toward them well before he ran for office. The women both say when they later told their stories, Trump lied and defamed them publicly.

Summer Zervos case against the President has been delayed after Trump argued that the U.S. Constitution says that state cases of this nature cant proceed while hes in office. But if he can proceed with his own case against the New York Times, he might open the door for his accusers to proceed against him.

Trump and his legal team are using the same argument to delay the Carroll case. But this week, Jean E. Carrolls legal team prepared for battle, armed with the fact that Trump himself is suing for defamation. That hypocrisy could make it difficult for Donald Trumps lawyers to prove that Carrolls case should be delayed.

As Carrolls lawyer Roberta Kaplan put it,

The president shouldnt be able to pick and choose which cases he wants to do while president and which cases he doesnt want to do.

There are likely many reasons that Trump doesnt want to see these defamation cases against him to move forward. If he did sexually assault Carroll or Zervos and it can be proven, Trump could find himself in another impeachment mess.

Back in the 90s President Bill Clinton was in a similar situation when he denied having a sexual encounter with Monica Lewinski. After the affair had been proven, Clinton was impeached for perjury.

If guilty, Trump faces a similar dilemma. Donald Trumps testimony in the Carroll case is likely to match what hes been saying all along that he doesnt know her. But that could be difficult to prove if the dress that Carroll wore on the day of their encounter contains Donald Trumps DNA.

Last year, Carroll dropped a bombshell saying she still had the dress she was wearing when Trump allegedly assaulted her. She also claims it hasnt been washed. The dress was processed as evidence and male DNA discovered. Her legal team requested a sample of Trumps DNA for comparison but Trump moved to delay the case until hes out of office.

To be sure, theres a long road ahead for Carroll even if the New York Times lawsuit paves the way for the case to move forward. But Donald Trumps pride could be his undoing if his own defamation cases set a precedent for his accusers.

Theres some question as to whether Trumps NYT suit could also impact the delayed Summer Zervos case. Both Zervos and Trump will need to submit their arguments to the court by May 11.

If Carroll is successful in using Trumps current suits to push her own case forward, Zervos may be able to rely on the same logic. Either way, Trump may not be able to escape unscathed.

This article was edited by Aaron Weaver.