E. Jean Carroll Accuses Former US President Donald Trump of Assault: Civil Trial Update

E. Jean Carroll, 79, claims that the former President of the United States assaulted her in the mid-1990s in a dressing room at the New York luxury department store.

By Le Figaro with AFP

Published on 04/26/2023 at 22:19update on 04/26/2023 at 23:29

“I am here because Donald Trump raped me”: the author and former American columnist E. Jean Carroll delivered on Wednesday April 26 heavy accusations against the former president of the United States, who refutes them, during a civil trial in New York where she seeks compensation. On the second day of this trial in Manhattan federal court, E. Jean Carroll, 79, spoke in a calm and serious voice before the nine citizens drawn by lot to determine whether Donald Trump whether or not assaulted her in the mid-1990s, in a fitting room at the New York luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman.

“Broken reputation”

“I am here”did she say, “because Donald Trump raped me”. Then, in a stony silence, the former columnist of the magazine Elle has followed: “And when I wrote on the subject (in a book in 2019, Editor’s note), he said that didn’t happen. He lied and shattered my reputation. “I am here to resume the course of my life”, she added. For more than an hour, the writer, elegant, distinguished, with slightly sunken features, told how “such a funny New York scene” – the chance meeting with Donald Trump at the entrance to a department store, then a few jokes on the shelves – turned into a nightmare in the dressing room of the lingerie department on the 6th floor.

According to her story, the then-everything New York businessman and celebrity recognizes her because she writes a column in Elle, “Ask E. Jean”, and invites him in a very playful tone to help him choose a gift. In the lingerie department, Donald Trump catches a “underwear”. E. Jean Carroll still cannot explain more than 25 years after the alleged facts how she was able to follow him into the cabin. The rest, she gave a testimony without detour. She claims that Donald Trump pushed her against the wall, pinned her down, then pulled down her pantyhose and penetrated her with “her fingers in (her) vagina”, then its gender. The scene lasted “a few minutes”.

” READ ALSO – “I received a check and everything changed”: the confidences of Stormy Daniels on Donald Trump

“I know people have been through much worse but it has left me unable to find a love life again”, testified E. Jean Carroll. Why did it take more than 20 years to come out of silence? “I was afraid of Donald Trump (…) I was ashamed (…) I thought it was my fault”. The former president of the United States, who is not on criminal trial, was not present on Tuesday and Wednesday and is not expected to appear in civil court. But his lawyers should submit E. Jean Carroll to a tight cross-examination. On Tuesday, one of them, Joe Tacopina, had portrayed her as a storyteller hungry for money and recognition.