NEW YORK: Former US President Donald Trump has called a writer’s claims that he raped her in a Manhattan department store “the most ridiculous and disgusting story”, testifying in a deposition presented to the court Wednesday that the allegations were “made up” and that the assault never happened.
Attorneys for accuser E. Jean Carroll released approximately 30 minutes of excerpts from the former president’s deposition, including his outright denial of the longtime columnist’s accusation that he attacked her amid 1990s in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman.
“If this had happened, it would have been reported within minutes,” Asset said, claiming shoppers and employees at the “busy store” reportedly heard a commotion and alerted authorities.
“It’s the most ridiculous and disgusting story. It’s just made up,” Trump said in the video deposition taken in October.
Several jurors leaned forward, staring blankly at the video playing on individual monitors in front of their seats.
In other developments on Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers said they would not call any witnesses, and the judge said closing arguments would likely take place on Monday before the jury begins deliberations on Tuesday.
Trump did not attend the trial and will not testify, giving his testimony more weight. Asked about the case during a trip to Ireland on Wednesday, Trump told reporters: “I hear we’re doing really well in New York.”
Jurors in Manhattan federal court are expected to hear more depositions from Trump on Thursday, followed by three other witnesses called to the stand by Carroll’s lawyers.
Carroll seeks unspecified damages and a retraction of Trump’s statements that she says were defamatory.
Trump has denied ever knowing Carroll, once saying that “she’s not my type” and claiming her claims were politically motivated attempts to smear her reputation and deny her the White House.
His denials punctuated an emotional day in court that saw more allegations of inappropriate behavior with women and the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump bragged about grabbing the women’s genitals. women without asking permission.
Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine writer, testified tearfully that Trump forcibly kissed her against her will while showing her around his Mar-a-Lago estate just after Christmas in 2005 for an article on her first birthday marriage to his third wife, Melanie.
Before trial, Trump’s attorneys failed to prevent jurors from viewing the ‘Access Hollywood’ video and hearing from Stoynoff, who said she only spoke to a few people about the incident alleged at the time, but decided to go public after seeing the tape and Trump’s subsequent denials during a 2016 debate.
“What’s horrible for me is that I was worried, because I didn’t say anything at the time, other women were hurt by him, so I must have regretted it,” he said. said Stoynoff.
Stoynoff began to cry when asked about her trip to interview the Trumps in Palm Beach, Florida, reaching for tissues and pausing between questions to pat her eyes. Stoynoff testified that Trump tricked her away from staff and a team of photographers to show her a “really great room” in the estate, before cornering her and kissing her.
Stoynoff, a Canadian who adopted an old surname for her writing career, recalled the door closing behind her and Trump soon “put his hands on my shoulders, pushed me against the wall and started kissing me”. The encounter lasted several minutes, said Stoynoff, real name Nancy Stevens.
“I tried to push him away,” Stoynoff said, explaining how Trump backtracked on her and how she tried to push him back again. She was “so shocked and pissed off” that she was unable to speak and did not scream, she said.
“Not a word came out of me,” Stoynoff told jurors.
Trump showed no signs of stopping, but suddenly walked away when a butler entered the room to signal that Melania was ready for the next phase of the interview, Stoynoff said.
As they walked to a patio, Stoynoff said, Trump told her “you know we’re going to have an affair” and reminded her that his second wife, Marla Maples, had once bragged to a tabloid that sex with Trump was the best she had ever had.
Trump denied ever trying to kiss Stoynoff. Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina suggested she had nothing to do with Carroll’s case and ended her cross-examination after asking her a single question: Was she involved in litigation against Trump? ? She is not.
Stoynoff’s testimony came a day after another woman, a former stockbroker Jessica Leedstestified that Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt as they sat next to each other on an airline flight in the late 1970s.
Carroll kept her allegations against Trump secret for 17 years, telling only two close friends before going public with the allegations in a 2019 memoir. In the book, she describes how a sometimes flirtatious chance encounter with Trump at large store in the spring of 1996 ended in violence when Trump cornered her in a dressing room after daring himself to try on a piece of lingerie.
Trump’s attorneys attacked Carroll’s credibility through extensive cross-examination, questioning why she didn’t scream for help during the alleged attack and why she never went to the police.
A psychologist testifying on Carroll’s behalf said Wednesday that it was common for rape victims to shut up and blame themselves.
Attorneys for accuser E. Jean Carroll released approximately 30 minutes of excerpts from the former president’s deposition, including his outright denial of the longtime columnist’s accusation that he attacked her amid 1990s in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman.
“If this had happened, it would have been reported within minutes,” Asset said, claiming shoppers and employees at the “busy store” reportedly heard a commotion and alerted authorities.
“It’s the most ridiculous and disgusting story. It’s just made up,” Trump said in the video deposition taken in October.
Several jurors leaned forward, staring blankly at the video playing on individual monitors in front of their seats.
In other developments on Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers said they would not call any witnesses, and the judge said closing arguments would likely take place on Monday before the jury begins deliberations on Tuesday.
Trump did not attend the trial and will not testify, giving his testimony more weight. Asked about the case during a trip to Ireland on Wednesday, Trump told reporters: “I hear we’re doing really well in New York.”
Jurors in Manhattan federal court are expected to hear more depositions from Trump on Thursday, followed by three other witnesses called to the stand by Carroll’s lawyers.
Carroll seeks unspecified damages and a retraction of Trump’s statements that she says were defamatory.
Trump has denied ever knowing Carroll, once saying that “she’s not my type” and claiming her claims were politically motivated attempts to smear her reputation and deny her the White House.
His denials punctuated an emotional day in court that saw more allegations of inappropriate behavior with women and the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump bragged about grabbing the women’s genitals. women without asking permission.
Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine writer, testified tearfully that Trump forcibly kissed her against her will while showing her around his Mar-a-Lago estate just after Christmas in 2005 for an article on her first birthday marriage to his third wife, Melanie.
Before trial, Trump’s attorneys failed to prevent jurors from viewing the ‘Access Hollywood’ video and hearing from Stoynoff, who said she only spoke to a few people about the incident alleged at the time, but decided to go public after seeing the tape and Trump’s subsequent denials during a 2016 debate.
“What’s horrible for me is that I was worried, because I didn’t say anything at the time, other women were hurt by him, so I must have regretted it,” he said. said Stoynoff.
Stoynoff began to cry when asked about her trip to interview the Trumps in Palm Beach, Florida, reaching for tissues and pausing between questions to pat her eyes. Stoynoff testified that Trump tricked her away from staff and a team of photographers to show her a “really great room” in the estate, before cornering her and kissing her.
Stoynoff, a Canadian who adopted an old surname for her writing career, recalled the door closing behind her and Trump soon “put his hands on my shoulders, pushed me against the wall and started kissing me”. The encounter lasted several minutes, said Stoynoff, real name Nancy Stevens.
“I tried to push him away,” Stoynoff said, explaining how Trump backtracked on her and how she tried to push him back again. She was “so shocked and pissed off” that she was unable to speak and did not scream, she said.
“Not a word came out of me,” Stoynoff told jurors.
Trump showed no signs of stopping, but suddenly walked away when a butler entered the room to signal that Melania was ready for the next phase of the interview, Stoynoff said.
As they walked to a patio, Stoynoff said, Trump told her “you know we’re going to have an affair” and reminded her that his second wife, Marla Maples, had once bragged to a tabloid that sex with Trump was the best she had ever had.
Trump denied ever trying to kiss Stoynoff. Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina suggested she had nothing to do with Carroll’s case and ended her cross-examination after asking her a single question: Was she involved in litigation against Trump? ? She is not.
Stoynoff’s testimony came a day after another woman, a former stockbroker Jessica Leedstestified that Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt as they sat next to each other on an airline flight in the late 1970s.
Carroll kept her allegations against Trump secret for 17 years, telling only two close friends before going public with the allegations in a 2019 memoir. In the book, she describes how a sometimes flirtatious chance encounter with Trump at large store in the spring of 1996 ended in violence when Trump cornered her in a dressing room after daring himself to try on a piece of lingerie.
Trump’s attorneys attacked Carroll’s credibility through extensive cross-examination, questioning why she didn’t scream for help during the alleged attack and why she never went to the police.
A psychologist testifying on Carroll’s behalf said Wednesday that it was common for rape victims to shut up and blame themselves.
