--- title: Donald Trump Says He Will Sue Sexual Misconduct Accusers description: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Saturday said he will sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct canonical: https://time.com/4541780/donald-trump-threatens-lawsuit-against-accusers/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-22T19:49:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:27.286Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Says He Will Sue Sexual Misconduct Accusers. Law Experts Have Doubts og:description: “It’s inconceivable any one of those suits could ever proceed, let alone succeed” og:url: https://time.com/4541780/donald-trump-threatens-lawsuit-against-accusers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdda942e85f618e37/6988ab32e20a876cc2a92e78/trump15.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3600 og:image:height: 2025 og:image:alt: GOP Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Campaigns In Fletcher, North Carolina og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Says He Will Sue Sexual Misconduct Accusers. Law Experts Have Doubts twitter:description: “It’s inconceivable any one of those suits could ever proceed, let alone succeed” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdda942e85f618e37/6988ab32e20a876cc2a92e78/trump15.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Says He Will Sue Sexual Misconduct Accusers. Law Experts Have Doubts > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 22, 2016 7:49 PM UTC  Donald Trump speaks at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher, NC, on Oct. 21, 2016. Donald Trump speaks at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher, NC, on Oct. 21, 2016. Brian Blanco—Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 22, 2016 7:49 PM UTC Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Saturday said he will sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct, making the announcement during a speech aimed at outlining his plans for the first 100 days of his potential presidency. “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign, total fabrication. The events never happened, never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over,” Trump said, eliciting cheers from the crowd in Gettysburg, Penn. [Multiple women](http://time.com/4538729/donald-trump-accuser-karena-virginia/) in recent weeks have accused Trump of inappropriately touching or kissing them without consent in incidents spanning decades. Trump has [repeatedly denied](http://time.com/4537900/donald-trump-sexual-assault-presidential-debate/) the accusations, [attacking the appearance and credibility](http://time.com/4531872/donald-trump-sexual-assault-accusers-attack/) of his accusers. In his remarks on Saturday, he went a step further in announcing plans to take legal action against them, but some media law experts voiced skepticism that such litigation would be viable. “Does he have a viable legal claim? The answer is: the evidence that we know today doesn’t seem to suggest that,” said Sandra Baron, a senior fellow at Yale Law School and media law expert. “It’ll be his obligation to prove that what the women said was false and defamatory.” She said while it would be possible to prove the defamatory nature of their accusations because sexual assault is a criminal offense, it would be difficult to prove the statements were false or that they damaged his already high-profile reputation. “He’s the ultimate public figure. He faces the ultimate burden in any one of those lawsuits,” said Ted Boutrous, Jr., a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher who specializes in First Amendment law. “It’s outrageous. It’s frivolous. It’s beneath our democracy to have someone who’s running for president make that kind of threat on the eve of an election.” Both Boutrous and Baron said Trump’s recently [leaked lewd comments](http://time.com/4523755/donald-trump-leaked-tape-impact/) from a 2005 conversation—in which Trump bragged about groping women—would serve as corroborating evidence for the accusations against him. “He’s verging on, or has already become, what’s known as a libel-proof plaintiff,” Boutrous said, adding that he thinks “it’sinconceivable any one of those suits could ever proceed, let alone succeed.” Trump has previously [threatened to “open up our libel laws”](http://time.com/4239386/donald-trump-libel-freedom-of-press/) and make it easier to sue journalists. Earlier this month, an attorney for Trump [demanded a retraction](https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/DemandForRetraction.PDF) and apology for a [New York _Times_ story](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html) in which two women accused Trump of touching them inappropriately, calling it “reckless” and “defamatory.” Trump also threatened to sue the newspaper but has not followed through with the threat made more than a week ago. Hillary Clinton’s campaign on Saturday called Trump’s legal threat “troubling.” “Like Trump’s campaign, this speech gave us a troubling view as to what a Trump State of the Union would sound like—rambling, unfocused, full of conspiracy theories and attacks on the media, and lacking in any real answers for American families,” deputy communications director Christina Reynolds said in a statement. Both media law experts raised doubts that Trump would actually follow through with the threatened lawsuits, given what it would mean if he is elected president. “His first 100 days would be 100 depositions,” Boutrous said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4541780/donald-trump-threatens-lawsuit-against-accusers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4541780/donald-trump-threatens-lawsuit-against-accusers/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says He Will Sue Sexual Misconduct Accusers. 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