E. Jean Carroll Testifies: Donald Trump Raped Me

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Writer E. Jean Carroll opened her testimony Wednesday saying, I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and detailed the alleged incidents that took place between her and the former president at a department store on 1990s, facing questions from his attorney, Mike Ferrara, about the events leading up to the alleged incident.

E. Jean Carroll arrived in Manhattan on Tuesday for the start of her civil trial against Trump.

Getty Images Basic Facts

Carroll described a chance encounter with Trump at a Bergdorf Goodman store in the 1990s, which led to him raping her in a dressing room, she claims.

She said the two joked for a while as they browsed the store, and began joking about trying on women’s underwear.

Trump then allegedly opened a dressing room door, where she entered before pushing her against a wall, pulling down her pantyhose and inserting his penis, Carroll said during testimony.

He added that he doesn’t remember if he outright said no during the encounter and said he wasn’t yelling, but she tried to push him away and clearly didn’t want anything else to happen.

After the incident, Carroll said she told two friends, Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin, who were both scheduled to testify later in the trial.

Carroll said she never came forward about the alleged rape before because she was ashamed, felt guilty about it and was afraid of being seen dirty or being told she should have yelled or shouldn’t have flirted so much.

Later in the afternoon, Judge Kaplan ruled that the Trumps team could not ask Carroll to testify about funding for his lawsuit that came from Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn who is also a major Democratic donor.

Trump did not appear in court for the trial, but he was warned Wednesday morning to stop posting on social media about the ongoing trial after he posted twice on Truth Social calling the case that it’s a scam and call his accuser a liar.

He posted that Carrolls attorney was a political operative, funded by a major political donor, and compared Carroll to Monica Lewinsky.

Carrolls’ attorney argued that the posts violated two court orders not to discuss the attorneys involved in the case or a dispute to obtain a DNA sample from Trump, which he also posted about, according to Adam Klasfeld, a Law & Crime News reporter live-tweeted the proceedings. .

Judge Lewis Kaplan said the online comments were completely inappropriate while the case was pending and asked the Trumps’ attorney, Joe Tacopina, to refrain from further posting Tacopina agreed, according to reports.

The Truth Social posts were deleted about two hours after they were posted.

Tangent

In his posts on Wednesday, Trump also wrote about the clothing Carroll said she was wearing during the alleged rape, which has been a point of some controversy. Carroll requested a DNA sample from Trump in 2020 to compare to the man’s DNA on the clothing, but Trump did not agree to provide a sample until Tacopina became his attorney in January 2023. Tacopina said they would provide a DNA sample , but Judge Kaplan dismissed the offer, saying it was a ploy to delay the trial. In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote, he said he had a dress and didn’t want to do it. Clothing should be allowed to be part of the case. The clothing could still be used as evidence in the case and, in response to the posts, Kaplan reportedly said Trump may or may not tamper with a new source of potential liability.

Key Background

Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s after they went shopping together. A Bergdorf Goodman employee testified this morning, describing what the store looked like inside and whether there were security cameras. Two friends Carroll allegedly told about the incident, as well as two other women who have accused Trump of sexual assault, are scheduled to speak at the trial.

Further Reading

E. Jean Carroll Case: What to Know About Defamation Suit Accusing Trump of Rape (Forbes)

Live Updates: E. Jean Carroll Testifies in Case Accusing Trump of Rape (New York Times)

Judge rejects Trump DNA offer in E Jean Carroll rape defamation case (The Guardian)

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