Donald Trump raped, groped former columnist E. Jean Carroll, court said | World News

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Donald Trump raped a former American columnist, E. Jean Carroll, and later taunted her with defamatory comments, a US court hearing a case against the former president was told. Donald Trump’s lawyer, E. Jean Carroll, said he was motivated by money and fame in opening arguments in the highly anticipated proceedings.

Donald Trump- E. Jean Carroll Trial: Former US President Donald Trump.(Reuters)

E. Jean Carroll previously claimed that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a changing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Donald Trump first sought advice on buying women’s underwear from the former columnist and then attacked her, she claims.

“The moment they were inside (the dressing room) everything changed. Suddenly nobody was happy. Trump was almost twice her size,” E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer, Shawn Crowley, told the court.

The trial is not criminal in nature but comes at a time when Donald Trump is facing a flurry of legal challenges that could jeopardize his 2024 run for a second presidential term. Just weeks ago, Donald Trump faced criminal charges related to a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, becoming the first sitting or former president to be indicted for a crime. The former president pleaded not guilty to 34 counts related to payments made before the 2016 presidential election.

Donald Trump also faces scrutiny over his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents and his involvement in the attack on the US Capitol.

E. Jean Carroll first made the allegation in 2019 and sued Donald Trump for defamation but did not include the rape claim. Following a new law that will take effect in November 2022 in New York that allows victims of someone’s sexual assault a grace period to sue their alleged abusers decades after the attacks, she filed a new lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of “forced rape and groping” against her.

“He went on the attack. He ridiculed her. He destroyed her,” said her attorney seeking unspecified damages for significant pain and suffering, long-term psychological and monetary damages, loss of dignity and self-esteem, and invasion of his privacy.

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