Trump sexual assault allegations could be aired in court next week in civil trial

WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect people who have experienced sexual violence or know someone who has been affected.

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Donald Trump, who has become the first former US president to face criminal charges, is days away from a civil trial where jurors will decide whether he lied about rape.

A trial is scheduled to begin on April 25 in one of E. Jean Carroll’s two lawsuits against Trump over her denial that she was raped in the mid-1990s.

Regardless of the verdict, the trial could expose Trump to horrendous accusations.

Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, is expected to testify, as are two friends she spoke to after she was raped: Lisa Birnbach, who wrote. The Official Preppy Handbookand former New York news anchor Carol Martin.

Two women who say Trump assaulted them in separate alleged incidents, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, are also eligible to be called by Carroll’s legal team, the judge in the case has ruled. Trump has denied the claim.

Also, the jury will be able to listen to the well-known 2005 Access Hollywood tape where Trump made graphic, vulgar comments bragging, in general terms, about sexually assaulting women.

It allegedly happened in the mid-’90s

Trump may be owed damages if Carroll convinces a Manhattan federal jury, more likely than not, that he defamed him in an October 2022 post on the Truth Social platform.

In it, she called Carroll’s rape claims a “Hoax and a lie” as she promoted her memoir, and stated that she was “not my type!”

Carroll also sued for battery under a new state law in New York that gives adults a one-year window to sue their abusers even though the deadline to sue, known as the statute of limitations, has passed.

Now 79, Carroll says Trump raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in midtown Manhattan in late 1995 or early 1996.

She said that after Trump asked her to help buy a gift for another woman, he “manoeuvred” her into the dressing room, where she closed the door and penetrated him before escaping.

‘Strong incentives’ for Trump to settle: expert

Trump does not have to testify in person. His attorney asked that jurors be instructed not to go against him if he skips the entire trial. Carroll plans to appear every day.

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll who is not related to the judge, declined to comment. Trump’s lawyer was unavailable for comment.

“Trump has a strong incentive to settle the case and not release the evidence, whether it’s true or not,” said Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former U.S. Attorney in Detroit.

“Carroll may decide that he cares more about getting his story out in the open than a monetary settlement can buy,” McQuade added.

It was not immediately clear whether the aggressive Trump, 76, would settle with Carroll.

The litany of accusations has not shaken the party’s support

The Carroll case is one of several criminal and civil investigations facing Trump.

None of that has upset his status as the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, though the shocking allegations could raise uncomfortable questions for politicians and party donors.

Voters know about it Access Hollywood tape when they went to the polls in the 2016 presidential election.

The public did not learn about the monetary payments made to two women who disclosed their relationship with Trump until after he was elected president. Trump faces charges in the criminal case of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over the payments, made to porn star Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal, also a former bodyguard.

Questions were also raised in DC and in Georgia related to Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election defeat, which involved efforts by him to pressure federal and state officials and accusations of baseless election fraud. It’s unclear, however, if Trump will ultimately be the target of the investigation’s potential costs.

The special counsel is also investigating whether Trump or anyone else obstructed efforts by federal agencies to recover classified documents, which include classified material, from the Florida property.

Trump, twice impeached by the House of Representatives during his presidency, including for inciting an uprising at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, has denied wrongdoing in all cases.

The trial is expected to be brief

At Carroll’s trial, Trump’s legal team could challenge her memory, including her inability to remember the date or even the month of the alleged assault.

In a heated deposition involving Carroll’s allegations late last year, Trump reportedly mistook the accuser for his second wife, Marla Maples, in a photograph.

The trial can last five to seven days.