Trump blames ‘blurry’ photo after mistaking E. Jean Carroll for his ex-wife

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Former President Donald Trump has insisted a “blurry” photo was to blame after he mistakenly identified an image of E. Jean Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that Carroll, a former Elle columnist who accused him of raping her in a Manhattan luxury department store in the 1990s, was not his “type.” An unsealed video Friday, taken as Trump was deposed in Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, may suggest otherwise.

The video features Trump repeatedly misidentifying Carroll as Maples while showing a photo of himself with his accuser at a party. After the former president’s lawyer Alina Habba pointed out that Carroll was the woman in the image, Trump realized his mistake and argued that the image was “very blurry”.

A copy of the same black-and-white image, embedded in Carroll’s legal complaint, doesn’t look blurry at all. Trump did not wear glasses during the deposition and does not regularly wear glasses or contact lenses, although he has been spotted wearing reading glasses on rare occasions.

Then-President Donald Trump is pictured chairing a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC on January 2, 2019. Video deposition shows Trump blaming a ‘very blurry’ photo after identifying by mistake his rape accuser E. Jean Carroll, who he previously said was not his “type”, like his ex-wife Marla Maples. Nicolas Kamm/AFP/Getty

Before misidentifying Carroll during deposition, Trump reaffirmed his claim that she was not his “type.” He later answered in the affirmative after Carroll’s lawyer asked him if the three women he had married were his “type”.

Trump also told Carroll’s lawyer that she “wouldn’t be a choice of mine either” during the deposition, adding that he “would have no interest” in her “under any circumstances” after he said that he hoped she was “not being insulted”.

Newsweek has emailed a representative for Habba and Trump’s office for comment.

Jurors in the civil trial saw video of Trump confusing Carroll with Maples on Thursday. Lawyers for Carroll and Trump closed their cases the same day, with closing arguments due Monday.

Judge Lewis Kaplan has given the former president, who was not present at the trial, until Sunday if he changes his mind and decides to testify.

Some legal experts have suggested that misidentifying the deposition could have legally convicted the former president by undermining his claim that he was not attracted to Carroll.

“Trump claims E. Jean Carroll is not his type, but he took a photo of her for a photo of his ex-wife,” tweeted former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti. “You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand why his testimony might impact the jury’s verdict.”

“Trump said E Jean Carroll wasn’t his type, but he confused a photo of her during his deposition with his second wife, Marla Maples,” Joyce Alene, also a former federal prosecutor, tweeted in response. to video. “His attorney steps in to correct him before he can continue to dig deeper.”

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