Former US President Trump will stand trial on Tuesday over a rape lawsuit filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. She claims that the ex-president raped her in the 1990s and is seeking civil damages.
Carroll, a longtime columnist for Elle magazine, says that former President Donald Trump attacked and raped her in the dressing room of a luxury department store in the 1990s – Trump denies, claiming the incident “never happened.”
According to Caroll, after she ran into the future president at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan, he invited her to go shopping with him in search of a gift of women’s underwear, after which they began to tease each other while trying on clothes. She claims they ended up alone in a dressing room, where Trump pinned her against a wall and raped her until she fought him off and ran away.
Jury selection for the trial is due to begin on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. The case is civil, not criminal, meaning the former president does not face jail time, but the stakes are high nonetheless. If the plaintiff wins, this will be the first time Trump has been prosecuted for sexual assault, even though dozens of women have accused him of the crime and other sexual harassment.
A jury could order Trump to pay Carroll financial damages that could amount to “many millions of dollars” according to one legal expert. Carroll is seeking monetary damages, but did not name the amount.
A civil verdict against Trump will add to his avalanche of legal troubles as he tries to regain the presidency while he is indicted in one case and faces the possibility of additional criminal charges in a number of other investigations. writes POLITICO.
The trial also carries risks for Carroll, who must convince jurors of the validity of her charges against a well-known defendant in an incident that allegedly happened almost 30 years ago and had no witnesses.
Carroll first made her allegations in a memoir published in 2019. Trump vehemently denies that the rape ever took place, and that he even knew Carroll, who was a long-time columnist for Elle magazine. He claims she fabricated the rape claim to boost sales of her book, calling her “nutty” and “mentally ill”. In a civil case, even if the court finds him guilty, he will not go to jail. However, all this can cause him political harm.
Trump’s lawyers have suggested in court documents that his defense may include questioning the plausibility of Carroll’s claim that there were no clients or employees nearby who could have witnessed the incident, delving into the notion that she could not pinpoint the date. when the attack allegedly took place and alleging that Carroll was politically and financially motivated. Lawyers for Carroll and Trump declined to comment.
More Stories
Paris: wild clashes between police and "black" block
Modern Germans are far from the most hardworking in Europe
Georgia: Opposition leaders were brutally beaten by security forces (video)