A civil trial began on Tuesday in a New York courtroom, alleging that former US President Donald Trump sexually assaulted and raped former columnist E. Jean Carroll over three decades ago. The trial is based on a lawsuit filed by Carroll against Trump.
Carroll first accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a department store in New York in 1995 or 1996, and then defaming her when she went public with the allegation years later. Trump has vehemently denied the allegations.
The start of this trial comes just weeks after Trump’s indictment in a case related to a hush-money payment made to adult star Stormy Daniels. Facing several legal challenges that could derail his potential 2024 presidential run, this trial will be a crucial one for the former President.
During the trial, Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the changing room of a department store on Fifth Avenue, after he had asked her for advice on buying a women’s lingerie gift. The writer, who was in court for the beginning of the proceedings on Tuesday, first made the allegation in an excerpt from her book published by New York Magazine in 2019.
Trump, at the time, said that he had never met Carroll and that she was “not his type,” adding that she was “totally lying.”
Carroll initially sued Trump for defamation in 2019 but was unable to include the rape claim because the statute of limitations for the alleged offense had expired. However, a new law passed in November last year provided victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their abusers, even decades after the attacks may have occurred.
Lawyers for Carroll filed a new suit that accused Trump of battery when he forcibly raped and groped her. The lawsuit also included defamation for a post that Trump made on his Truth Social platform in October, where he denied the alleged rape and referred to Carroll as a “complete con job.”
The suit seeks unspecified damages for “significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological and pecuniary harms, loss of dignity and self-esteem, and invasion of her privacy.” It also asks that Trump retracts his comments.
While around a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, he has denied all allegations and has never been prosecuted over any of them. Although no criminal prosecution can stem from the Carroll case, if Trump loses the lawsuit, it will be the first time he has ever been held legally liable for an allegation of sexual assault.
