Trump Denies Final Chance to Testify in Rape Case

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Donald Trump will officially not testify in his civil rape trial. The former president was given a deadline after telling reporters he would attend. Closing arguments for the case are set for Monday, and the jury will begin deliberating on Tuesday. Loading Something is loading.

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Donald Trump will officially not testify in his civil rape trial, brought by author and writer E. Jean Carroll, after lawyers did not file a request to do so before Sunday’s 5 p.m. deadline, the Associated Press reported.

The former president, accused of raping Carroll and subsequently defaming her character, did not attend the current trial, but told reporters Thursday that he would “confront” Carroll about the accusations.

“I will probably attend,” Trump said Thursday while playing golf at his resort in Doonbeg, Ireland “And I think it’s a shame that this is allowed to happen, false accusations against a rich person, or in my case against to a famous, rich, and political person.”

Trump’s comments prompted US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, to give Trump a deadline at a hearing on Thursday, Insider’s Laura Italiano reported.

Despite these statements, his lead attorney, Joe Tacopina, insisted at the hearing that Trump had waived his right to testify. Trump’s lawyers also did not present a defense during the week-long trial after their lone witness was unable to testify. The only time the president defended himself in front of jurors during the trial was when his 48-minute deposition tape was played in the courtroom.

Without Trump’s testimony, closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday, with jury deliberations to follow Tuesday.

Carroll, a former longtime columnist for Elle magazine, said Trump raped her in the dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the spring of 1996.

Attorneys for Carroll and Trump did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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