vulnerability that could itself be a game changer. conventional wisdom, s.e. cupp. people don t need two dictionaries in this day and age and over your left shoulder we see two dictionaries. but they do need two bill hodges portraits. [ laughter ] i m a writer, john berman! okay. okay. why are you picking on me? s.e. cupp, thank you very much. well-read, well-defined with two dictionaries there. thank you very much. john avlon. s.e. cupp and john avlon and conventional wisdom, i don t know where i fit into the relationship, guys? can i be alternative facts? that was great. much more to come including this. a step toward freedom for five americans wrongfully detained in iran and a call from the secretary of state, what tony blinken has told the families of
33 past the hour. welcome back to morning joe. we re following new developments this morning in the special counsel s other case against former president donald trump. now, is this the one where he tried to launch an insurrection to overthrow the united states. no. is this where he stole government secrets and nuclear yes. it s not the hush money payment with a porn star which nobody denies, not even donald trump. not when he was accused of rape. it was sexual abuse, he was held liable. but the judge that said when they were making motions, actually, the common usage, how the u.s. army uses the term rape, what is defined in the dictionaries, you committed rape.
carroll $5 million in damages. trump s lawyers filed the motion seeking either to reduce that arguing that he was not found liable for rape like carroll alleges. the judge denied that request saying that the weight new york law defines rape is much narrower than how it is commonly defined by some dictionaries and other criminal statutes, in the opinion catherine writes quote the finding that miss carroll failed to prove that she was raped within the meaning of that new york penal law does not mean that she failed to prove that mr. trump raped her. as many people commonly understand the word rape. indeed, as the evidence of the trial recounted below mix clear, the jury found that mr. trump, in fact, did exactly that. this filing comes as trump faces a second defamation loss suit from carole over comments