"Carroll’s suit against Trump began at the home of NeverTrump blogger Molly Jong Fast:
The party was in honor of yet another Resistance figure, the comedian Kathy Griffin. Among those in attendance was still another Resistance figure, the lawyer George Conway. The gathering was, in the words of a New York Times account, “Resistance Twitter come to life.”
Conway was someone important for Carroll to meet. A high-powered lawyer, back in the 1990s, he had been part of the so-called elves, a group of lawyers who secretly helped Paula Jones sue President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment. By 2019, Conway was in a far different position. His wife, Kellyanne Conway, ran Trump’s campaign and went to the White House as a top adviser. For his part, George Conway was originally interested in a big job in the Trump Justice Department. Later, when that did not happen, he became virulently anti-Trump, so much so that he would be invited to a party for Griffin at Jong-Fast’s apartment. At that party, Conway became an elf all over again.
As the guests enjoyed themselves — the catering was by Momofuku and was said to be excellent — Conway persuaded Carroll that she should sue Trump for defamation. The idea was that when Trump denied having met her and then said she was making up the rape accusation to sell a book and then said she, Carroll, was not his type, that was all defamation. Carroll could sue Trump for that, and then, of course, the case would focus on whether the alleged rape actually occurred, so it would be like having a rape trial for Trump even though the statute of limitations was long passed."
