What is behind the sexual assault case against Donald Trump?

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NEW YORK (AP) As Donald Trump ran and served as president, more than a dozen women publicly accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Most of those claims, all of which Trump denied, were never brought to court. None went to trial. But that is about to change.

Jury selection begins Tuesday in the rape case of E. Jean Carroll in a New York federal court. The former Elle magazine advice columnist claims Trump raped her in a luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Carroll’s civil case took a tortuous road to trial. It comes today as Trump seeks to return to the White House and battles a list of legal troubles, including his recent indictment on charges of doctoring his business records to hide hush money payments to a porn stars.

Here’s a look at the case and some key questions:

WHAT IS THE CASE?

Carroll said a chance meeting with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman suddenly turned into sexual violence in 1995 or 1996. According to her court complaint, Trump took her to a fitting room after they joked about trying on a bodysuit, and then he pinned her against the wall and forced himself on her as she tried to break free.

He said he eventually made her kneel down and ran out of the store. Two of Carroll’s friends said he told them about the alleged assault soon after. She didn’t inform the police or anyone else until she told the story in a 2019 memoir and magazine excerpt. (The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they go public, as Carroll did.)

WHAT IS TRUMP SAYING?

You’re welcome. He said I did something to him that didn’t happen. Nothing, Trump said when Carroll’s lawyers questioned him under oath in October. He denied ever crashing into the store and accused him of making up the story to sell his book. When his account was first published, Trump said he had no idea who she was, shrugging off a photo showing the two and their then-wives interacting at a social event in 1987. When it was resurfaced photo during his October questioning, Trump mistakenly identified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples. His former ex, the late Ivana Trump, is in the picture.

ARE THERE EYEWITNESSES? ANY VIDEOS? FORENSIC EVIDENCE?

Carroll’s legal team said there were no eyewitnesses to the alleged attack, and any security video that might have existed has long been lost. For years, Carroll has sought to test Trump’s DNA against unidentified male genetic material found on a garment he claims he wore and never washed. His lawyers had long fought his request for a sample until February, when they offered a deal: To invalidate his claim, he would hand over the sample if his lawyers returned the full DNA report to clothing. The judge said it was too late. Jurors won’t hear about DNA and clothes.

IS THERE TRUMP ON THE TEST?

His presence is unnecessary and unlikely. Trump’s lawyers said he would like to attend but the security required for such an appearance would burden the city and the court. The judge, for his part, expressed confidence that Trump would be protected in the lower Manhattan courthouse, where security is already tight.

Even without Trump, jurors will hear from him via video of his questioning last fall. Meanwhile, Carroll plans to attend every day and testify, according to his attorneys.

IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTION?

Nope. The legal time limit for pressing criminal charges has long since run out.

WHY IS THIS CIVIL CASE IN COURT NOW?

It’s complicated. When Carroll first appeared, the statute of limitations for filing a rape lawsuit had expired. But after Trump reacted to her allegations by saying he wasn’t my type and was flat out lying, Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against him in 2019. That lawsuit was upheld while Trump’s lawyers fought it in a variety of ways, including moving it from state to federal court and asserting that Trump’s statements were part of his job as president, an argument that could sink the defamation claim.

The courts are now weighing that question. But in the meantime, New York has given people a chance to sue over long-standing sexual abuse claims. Carroll was among the first to do so. (His case remained in federal court, however.) And Trump continued to publicly portray Carroll as a liar, forming the basis of a new defamation claim that will also be discussed at trial.

WHAT DOES CARROLL WANT?

A recovery and unspecified damages.

WHAT OTHER WOMEN ARE GIVING TRUMP A SEXUAL MISLEADING?

Two of them were to testify in Carroll’s case. Jurors are also expected to hear the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood hot-mic recording of Trump wildly boasting that fame has given him carte blanche to kiss and kiss women. The case does not involve two other women who sued Trump after going public with claims that he made unwanted sexual advances. Those cases were dismissed or dropped.

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