what to know
- Former President Donald Trump answered questions under oath Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll.
- Trump called Carroll’s rape allegation “a hoax and a lie”.
- According to Carroll’s account, he ran into Trump when the two were shopping at the Bergdorf Goodman store across Fifth Avenue from Trump Tower.
NEW YORK – Former President Donald Trump answered questions under oath Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who claims the Republican raped her in the mid-1990s in a locker room. Department store. .
The statement gave Carroll’s lawyers the opportunity to question Trump about the assault allegations, as well as the statements he made in 2019 when she told his story publicly for the first time.
Details of how the statement went were not immediately released.
“We are delighted that, on behalf of our client, E. Jean Carroll, we were able to accept a deposition from Donald Trump today. We can’t comment further, “said a spokesperson for the law firm representing her, Kaplan Hecker & Fink.
Trump called Carroll’s rape allegation “a hoax and a lie”.
His legal team worked for years to delay his request in the lawsuit, which was filed while he was still president. a federal judge rejected Trump’s request last week of further delay, stating that he could not “anticipate the actor’s attempt to obtain relief for what would have been a grave mistake.”
Carroll was expected to be questioned by Trump’s lawyers last Friday. Neither his nor Trump’s lawyers answered questions about how that statement went.
Everything Trump said during his deposition could potentially be used as evidence in an upcoming civil trial. He has not faced any criminal charges related to Carroll’s allegations and is unlikely to be prosecuted. The deadline for filing a complaint for sexual assaults in the 1990s has long since expired.
Similar legal terms also applied to civil cases for sexual assault. As a result, Carroll decided to sue Trump for libel over comments he made in 2019 when he denied wrongdoing. She claims that her denials and attacks on her credibility and his character have damaged his reputation.
However, New York lawmakers recently gave survivors of sexual violence a one-year window to sue their abusers for past assaults. Carroll’s attorney told the court that he intends to do so filing such a lawsuit against Trump after that window opens in late November.
According to Carroll’s account, he ran into Trump when the two were shopping at the Bergdorf Goodman store across Fifth Avenue from Trump Tower. At the time, Carroll was appearing on television as the host of an advice show, “Ask E. Jean”.
He said the two joked amicably as he tried to help him choose a gift. But when they were briefly alone in a locker room, she said he pulled her stockings down and raped her.
In a recent statement, Trump called that story “a complete scam”.
“I don’t know this woman, I have no idea who she is, other than the fact that she looks like she took a picture of me many years ago, with her husband, shaking my hand in the queue at a celebrity charity event,” Trump he said. .
