E. Jean Carroll’s friend testified in Trump’s rape case

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E. Jean Carroll was “hyperventilating” when she called a friend minutes after former President Donald Trump allegedly groped her in 1996, the friend told jurors in Manhattan federal court Tuesday.

Lisa Birnbach — a longtime close friend of New York Magazine’s “Ask E. Jean” advice columnist — recalled how a “breathless, hyperventiating, [and] emotional” Carroll called to tell her that Trump allegedly sexually assaulted her inside a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room.

“Lisa, you’re not going to believe what happened to me,” Birnbach recounted Carroll telling her during the three- to four-minute call.

“His voice does all kinds of things,” Birnbach testified about Carroll. “Maybe he’s laughing. It was like he had a surge of adrenaline.”

Birnbach — who was feeding her children dinner when Carroll called — said, “I stepped outside the room and I whispered, ‘E. Jean, he raped you.’”

He told Carroll to go to the police, but his friend responded, “No, no, no. I don’t want to go to the police,” Birnbach testified.

“He raped you,” Birnbach recalled saying over and over. “I’ll take you to the police.”

But Carroll was undeterred and instead swore Birnbach, a fellow writer he had known for more than 30 years, to secrecy, the friend testified.

Lisa Birnbach testifies about E. Jean Carroll calling her after Donald Trump allegedly molested Carroll.AP

In the call, Carroll told her friend about bumping into the real estate mogul on her way out of the Fifth Avenue department store before she convinced him to help her buy a gift, Birnbach testified.

Trump eventually led Carroll to the lingerie section of the store, tossing her a negligee and asking her to try it on, Birnbach recalled her friend saying on the call.

Carroll joked that she should try the see-through one-piece, and Trump took her to an open fitting room – where she allegedly carried out the assault, Birnbach testified.

Birnbach claimed Carroll “hyperventilated” on the call.AP

Birnbach admitted that she thought it was odd that Carroll decided to go to the lingerie section of the store with Trump, who she described as a “staple of New York City tabloid life.”

“I was surprised that he did that,” Birnbach said. “I thought it was kind of nutty.”

Still, Birnbach said he didn’t think it was “dangerous” for Carroll to go into the fitting room with Trump, who Birnbach recently spent two days with at Mar-a-Lago for a Feb. 12, 1996, story he wrote. about him in New York Magazine.

“I didn’t think it was dangerous because I spent a few days with him and he didn’t strike me as dangerous,” Birnbach testified.

Carroll said Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room, probably in 1996.Getty Images

After Carroll finally went public with his claims against Trump in June 2019, Birnbach agreed to be identified by name as the person Carroll called after the alleged incident.

Birnbach said that as a result of going public, he received “some pretty horrible anti-Semiitic messages” online.

Birnbach told jurors that he was not testifying against Trump for political reasons — as his team claimed — but to vindicate his close friend.

“I’m here because my friend, my good friend, who is a good person, told me something terrible happened to him and as a result, he lost his job and his life became very, very difficult,” Birnbach said.

“I’m here because I’m his friend and I want the world to know he’s telling the truth.”

Carroll, 79, filed a lawsuit against Trump, 76, in November over the alleged rape. The lawsuit also accuses the 45th president of defaming Carroll when he publicly denied her allegations and said he did not know her.

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