‘Donald Trump raped me,’ writer says in civil trial

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NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) – A writer described in vivid detail on Wednesday how Donald Trump sexually assaulted her nearly 30 years ago, in a civil trial to determine whether the former U.S. president assaulted her and then lied. about this.

“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote this, he lied and said it never happened,” E. Jean Carroll told jurors in federal court in Manhattan. “He lied and ruined my reputation, and I’m here to try to get my life back.”

Carroll, 79, a former advice columnist at Elle magazine, is seeking unspecified damages from Trump, 76, who is leading the Republican field in the 2024 presidential campaign.

Her lawsuit concerns an alleged encounter in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in late 1995 or early 1996, during which she said Trump sexually assaulted her before escaping.

Carroll said Trump defamed her by calling her rape claim a hoax, a lie and a “complete con job” on her Truth Social media platform, and said she was not his “type” and made the claim sell. his memoirs.

She is also suing under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allows adults to sue their alleged abusers long after the statute of limitations has expired.

Trump did not attend and was not required to attend the trial, which began Tuesday. He has a campaign event scheduled in New Hampshire on Thursday, and both sides have indicated that Trump is unlikely to testify.

However, Trump maintained his disdain for Carroll’s case on Truth Social on Wednesday, calling his lawyer a “political operative” and the rape claim “a fabricated SCAM,” adding: ” This is a fraudulent and false story–Witch Hunt!”

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan warned that Trump could face more legal trouble if he continues to discuss the case.

‘I STILL FEEL,’ TRUMP’S ACCUSER SAYS

Carroll testified that he met Trump several years before the alleged rape, found him to be “very personable” and a “guy about town.”

At Bergdorf, Carroll recalled that he was leaving the store when Trump recognized him and raised his hand. He stopped.

“He said, ‘Hey, you’re the advice girl,'” Carroll recalled. “I said, ‘Hey, you’re the real estate tycoon.'”

Carroll said Trump joked in a “joshing” tone while she was shopping for underwear for another woman.

She said Trump asked her to try on a piece of lingerie, prompting her to joke that she should try it on.

Carroll said Trump then lured her into an open dressing room, closed the door, pushed her against a wall, and pulled down her tights. She choked back tears as she described pushing him back.

Trump’s fingers “entered my penis, which was very painful, very painful,” and “he also inserted his penis,” she said.

“As I sit here today I still feel it,” he said. “It left me unable to have a romantic life again.”

Asked by his attorney if he told Trump “no,” Carroll said “I might have said it” but he didn’t know.

He also said he blamed himself, and feared he would be fired and Trump would retaliate if he reported him.

Inspired by the #MeToo movement, Carroll came forward in 2019, and rejected Trump’s repeated suggestions that it was because he didn’t like his politics.

“I’m not settling a political score at all,” Carroll said. “I’m settling a personal score because he called me a liar over and over again, and it really ruined my reputation.”

She said Trump’s attacks caused Elle to drop her, costing her 8 million readers, and left others convinced she was a liar.

Carroll was stunned when asked if he regretted ending his silence.

“I’ve regretted this about 100 times,” she said, “but in the end being able to get my day in court finally is everything to me.”

Trump’s lawyers are expected to question Carroll on Thursday, including about her inability to remember when the alleged rape took place.

OUTSIDE IDENTIFICATION

Trump posted his latest comments on Truth Social about an hour before testimony began Wednesday.

He questioned how anyone could believe him – “being so well known, to put it mildly!” – Carroll may have been raped.

“He didn’t scream?” Trump wrote. “No witnesses? No one saw it?”

The posts led Kaplan to tell Trump’s legal team, outside the presence of the jury, that Trump seemed to be “trying, definitely, to talk to his quote-unquote public” and the jury about things. that “there is no business to discuss.”

Kaplan also said Trump could be “interfering with a new source of accountability” if he continues. Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said he would tell Trump to stop.

But concern about social media influencing the trial resurfaced after Trump’s son Eric tweeted Wednesday afternoon about Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn and prominent Democratic donor who is helping fund Carroll’s case.

Eric Trump said Hoffman’s involvement “is a disgrace to our country, should be illegal and tells you everything you need to know about the case.”

Kaplan told Tacopina that such comments need to stop.

“There are some relevant US laws here, and someone on your side should be thinking about them,” Kaplan said.

The judge also said Donald Trump’s lawyers could not mention Hoffman at trial, calling it “unfair prejudice.”

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Josie Kao

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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