Donald Trump goes to trial, accused of rape
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[April 25, 2023]
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump goes to trial on Tuesday, where the
writer E. Jean Carroll is accusing the former U.S. president in a civil
lawsuit of raping her in a department store dressing room in the
mid-1990s.
Jury selection is expected to begin in Manhattan federal court, where
the former Elle magazine advice columnist is also accusing Trump of
defamation.
Trump, 76, has denied raping Carroll, 79, He called her claim a "hoax"
and "complete Scam" in a October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform.
He has said she made up the encounter to promote her memoir and declared
that she was "not my type!"
Trump is not required to attend the trial. His lawyers have said he may
not appear, citing the likelihood of security concerns and traffic
delays. Carroll's lawyers have said they do not plan to call Trump as a
witness.
If Trump testified, he would likely face an aggressive
cross-examination. Trump has repeatedly attacked Carroll and in personal
terms since she first publicly accused him of rape in 2019. He has
claimed she is mentally ill.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversees the case, is keeping
jurors anonymous from the public, including the lawyers, to shield them
from potential harassment by Trump supporters.
The trial could last one to two weeks.
Trump, the Republican front-runner for the 2024 presidential election,
faces a slew of lawsuits and investigations.
These include Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's criminal charges
over hush money payments to a porn star.
Trump pleaded not guilty to those charges on April 4 at a New York state
courthouse, a three-minute walk from Tuesday's trial.
The former president also faces civil fraud charges by New York Attorney
General Letitia James into his namesake company.
Trump also faces criminal probes into interference in Georgia's 2020
presidential race and into classified government documents recovered at
his Mar-a-Lago residence, plus inquiries into his role in the Jan. 6,
2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In all of these cases, Trump has denied wrongdoing.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump
speaks at the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention in
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn
Hockstein/File Photo
OTHER ACCUSERS MAY TESTIFY
Carroll said her encounter with Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman store
occurred in late 1995 or early 1996.
She said Trump recognized her, calling her "that advice lady," and
asked for help in buying a gift for another woman.
Carroll said Trump "maneuvered" her into a dressing room where he
shut the door, forced her against a wall, pulled down her tights and
penetrated her. She said she broke free after two to three minutes.
Trump's lawyers may try to undermine Carroll's credibility by noting
that she did not call the police, and remained publicly silent for
more than two decades.
They may also challenge her inability to remember the date or even
the month of the alleged attack.
Carroll has said the #MeToo movement inspired her to come forward.
Two women in whom she said she confided after the attack, author
Lisa Birnbach and former news anchor Carol Martin, are expected to
testify.
Carroll's witness list also includes two other women who have
accused Trump of sexual misconduct, which Trump denies.
Lawyers for Carroll could use their testimony to establish a pattern
of Trump's alleged mistreatment of women.
They are also expected to play for jurors a 2005 "Access Hollywood"
tape where Trump made graphic, vulgar comments about women.
Carroll is also suing Trump for defamation after he first denied her
rape claim in June 2019, when he was still president. That case
remains pending before Kaplan.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Noeleen
Walder and Howard Goller)
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