2023-04-25 19:19:01
New York. He asked for help buying a gift before locking her in a dressing room, pinning her against the wall and sexually abusing her. In one of her works, US author Jean Carroll described a rape in the mid-1990s at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. The alleged perpetrator: Ex-President Donald Trump.
Since Tuesday, he has had to face rape allegations before a civil court in Manhattan. The trial joins a series of legal skirmishes that the Republican faces. Carroll only made the sexual assault public in 2019. After the fact, she only confided in a newsreader, but did not go to the police. According to Carroll, the #MeToo movement provided an impetus for breaking her silence.
Trump denies the allegations
The accused, however, denies having raped the author. The then US President justified this in 2019 by saying that Carrol was “not his type.” The author then sued him for defamation. Three years later, he reiterated his statement, calling the allegations a “complete fraud” on his social media platform. Another lawsuit for defamation followed, which was supplemented by a personal injury lawsuit, which New York law allows victims to bring alleged perpetrators to court long after the statute of limitations has passed. Trump accused Carroll of lying under oath, accusing her of only wanting to sell her books. He doesn’t even have to take part in the process and, according to Reuters, he won’t either. The Republican top candidate in the 2024 presidential campaign has planned a campaign trip to New Hampshire for Thursday.
Carroll’s attorneys have said they do not intend to call him as a witness. Possible witnesses include Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin, whom Carroll says she confided in, and two other women who claim Trump abused them: entrepreneur Jessica Leeds and journalist Natasha Stoynoff.
Anonymity for the twelve jurors
Before the actual hearing begins, the twelve jurors are appointed. Trial Judge Lewis Kaplan assured them full anonymity to avoid threats from angry Trump supporters.
The former president had repeatedly attacked courts, judges and authorities in recent years to vent his displeasure – and thus mobilized his sometimes radical fans. There may still be a few opportunities to do so. Also in New York, Trump is currently being tried for possible violations of campaign finance laws. It should be clear by the summer if prosecutors will charge him with interference in the 2020 Georgia state election.(reuters/apa/dpa)
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