The civil rape trial against Donald Trump is set to begin

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NEW YORK (AP) For decades, former US president Donald Trump seemed to brush off allegations, investigations and even impeachments. Now his “Teflon Don” reputation is about to face a new test: a jury of ordinary citizens in a case accusing him of rape.

Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in a trial of former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s claim that Trump raped her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room. He denies it.

The trial is in a federal civil court, meaning that regardless of the outcome, Trump is not at risk of jail time. He is also not required to be in court, and his lawyers have indicated that he is unlikely to testify.

But the trial, which comes as Trump is running for president again, still has the potential to be politically damaging for the Republican. The jury is set to hear a resurgence of sexual misconduct stories that rocked his 2016 presidential campaign, allegations he claims were lies made up to try to prevent him from winning.

The trial also comes a month after he pleaded not guilty to an unrelated criminal charge surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

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Carroll, who is seeking unspecified damages, is expected to testify about an encounter with Trump in late 1995 or early 1996 that he said turned violent. The lawsuit also includes Carroll’s defamation claim against Trump for abusive remarks he made about her in response to the rape allegations. He is looking for a retraction.

She said that after running into the future president at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman, he invited her to shop with him for a gift of lingerie before they teased each other to try on a dress. Carroll said they were together in a store dressing room, where Trump pushed her against a wall and raped her before he fought her off and fled.

Former US president Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association Convention in Indianapolis, April 14, 2023. (Michael Conroy/AP)

Since Carroll first made her accusations in a 2019 memoir, Trump has vehemently denied that a rape occurred or that he even knew Carroll, a longtime columnist for Elle magazine.

Trump called Carroll a “nut job” and “mentally ill.” She said she made up the rape claim to boost sales of her book.

“She’s not my type,” he said repeatedly, although during sworn questioning in October, he also mistakenly identified her in a photo as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

Carroll did not stop to speak to reporters when he arrived at the courthouse Tuesday morning.

Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Trump.

Jessica Leeds is set to testify that Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt on a 1979 flight where the two were assigned to adjacent seats. Natasha Stoynoff, a former staff writer for People magazine, will testify that Trump pinned her against a wall and forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion when she went there in 2005 to interview Trump and his pregnant wife Melania Trump.

Jurors will also be able to see the infamous 2005 “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump is heard making misogynistic comments about women, including an assertion that celebrities can steal, even that sexually, women without asking.

Jessica Leeds arrives at her apartment building, in New York, October 12, 2016. (Julie Jacobson/AP)

Carroll’s allegations are generally too old to be brought to court. But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing lawsuits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

The names of the jurors will be withheld from the public and attorneys, to protect them against possible harassment.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who will preside over the trial, rejected a request by Trump’s lawyers to tell jurors that the former president wanted to spare the city the disruption his presence could cause.

Kaplan noted that Trump has a New Hampshire campaign event scheduled for Thursday, the third day of the trial.

“If the Secret Service can protect him in that event, the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the City of New York can certainly ensure his security in this highly secure federal courthouse,” Kaplan wrote in an order.

Trump may still decide to attend the trial and testify. If he doesn’t, the jury can be shown excerpts from his deposition, which was recorded on video.

On Monday, Kaplan instructed attorneys on both sides not to say anything in front of prospective jurors Tuesday about who is paying the legal fees.

Earlier this month, the judge allowed Trump’s lawyers to question Carroll for an extra hour after it was revealed that his lawyers had received funding from American Future Republic, an organization funded by the co-founder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman. In an earlier inquiry, Carroll said the lawyers were only relying on contingency fees.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they go public, as Carroll, Leeds and Stoynoff did.

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