“Donald Trump raped me,” E. Jean Carroll testifies during the trial

Former President Donald Trump is facing a lawsuit from a writer who claims he raped her back in 1996. E. Jean Carroll testified in court, stating that Trump raped her in a department store dressing room. She also accused him of lying and destroying her reputation. Trump has denied these allegations, taking to social media to call them a “made-up scam.” He has not attended the trial so far.

Trump’s lawyer stated that it was still possible for him to testify in the case, which comes as he seeks the Republican nomination for president again. This occurred just weeks after pleading not guilty to criminal charges relating to payments made to silence a porn actor who claimed to have had sexual encounters with him.

Carroll, who was writing a lengthy advice column in Elle magazine at the time, said she met Trump in the revolving door of Bergdorf Goodman one night. After talking about a gift for a woman, he allegedly took her to a lingerie department where they joked around before going to a dressing room. Carroll claims that Trump then slammed her against a wall and raped her while she struggled with him. She later snatched her clothes off and ran away.

Trump claims that he was not at the store with Carroll and never knew who she was when he first publicly addressed the story in a 2019 memoir and magazine excerpt. Carroll’s lawsuit alleges that Trump defamed her by calling her case a “hoax,” “scam,” “lie,” and “complete scam.” The trial is seeking unspecified damages and a retraction of his alleged defamatory comments.

As the courthouse trial commenced, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform about his feelings towards the case, referring to Carroll’s attorney as a “political operative.” He also mentioned a DNA issue that the judge ruled couldn’t be a part of the case. Carroll’s lawyers brought up Trump’s post to the judge, who called it “a public statement that… seems completely inappropriate” and may tamper with the new source of potential liability.

The lawsuit was filed under a New York law that allows decades-old sexual abuse complaints to go to civil court, seeking justice for Carroll’s alleged rape. The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they’ve been sexually assaulted unless they go public with their experiences, as Carroll did.

Content and Photo credit go to Texas Standard

Read the full article on Texas Standard News