A writer named E. Jean Carroll testified in a trial against former US President Donald Trump, claiming that he sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s. She also accused him of defamation when she went public with the allegations years later. Trump has denied the allegations and has not been charged with any crime. Carroll filed the lawsuit last year after a new law took effect, giving victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their abusers.
In court, Carroll described a chance encounter with Trump in a Manhattan department store that turned violent. She said Trump “shoved” her against a wall in a changing room and forcibly raped and groped her. She said it left her feeling ashamed and frightened. Before the testimony, Judge Lewis Kaplan rebuked Trump for writing on his social media platform that the trial was “a made-up scam” and suggested he was trying to influence jurors.
Carroll’s 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.” If Trump loses the case, it will be the first time he has ever been held legally liable for an allegation of sexual assault. The trial is expected to last one to two weeks.
Trump is also facing other legal challenges as he seeks a return to the White House. He recently pleaded not guilty to 34 counts related to hush-money payments made to a porn star just before the 2016 election. He is being investigated over his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House, his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021, and his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.
