Sued for defamation by a woman who accuses him of rape, Trump testified in court

He’s done dodging. Donald Trump testified Wednesday in a defamation case launched in 2019 by a former journalist, E. Jean Carroll, who accuses the former president of the United States of having raped her in the 1990s.

A judge at the federal court in Manhattan on October 12 rejected a request by Donald Trump to further postpone his sworn statement before the American justice system, the former head of state systematically contesting this action for defamation for three years.

Last Wednesday, New York judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the depositions of E. Jean Carroll, 78, and Donald Trump, 76, were to be held on Friday October 14 and Wednesday October 19 respectively.

“We are satisfied that on behalf of our client E. Jean Carroll we were able to receive today the testimony of Donald Trump”, indicated in an email to AFP the law firm Kaplan Hecker and Fink, which represents E. Jean Carroll, without further comment.

“Not his kind of woman”

According to New York Times, the deposition of the former president – ​​which can be done by a video exchange between lawyers and the New York justice – took place from his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Florida. We do not know, however, if E. Jean Carroll testified last Friday.

In this defamation proceeding, E. Jean Carroll, former columnist for the magazine Elle, had attacked Donald Trump in civil in November 2019 in New York. She accused him of defaming her for calling a “complete lie”, in June 2019, his accusations of rape in a dressing room of a New York department store in the mid-1990s. The Republican president, then in office (2017-2021), said he had never met her and that she was “not his kind of woman”.

A new law could worry Donald Trump

The defamation suit was delayed by procedural battles, including whether Donald Trump should be represented by the US government, since he was president at the time of the impugned statements.

The former president’s lawyers – who did not respond to AFP’s requests – have always claimed that their client was protected by his immunity, in particular for defamatory remarks he allegedly made during his term of office.

But as the site Vice News noted on Tuesday, the businessman went on a new rant on October 12 on his social network Truth Social, mocking the accusations of rape of E. John Carroll. Thus, according to lawyers quoted by Vice News, the plaintiff could argue that Trump, this time as a private citizen, defamed her again.

And, in his October 12 order, Judge Kaplan indicated that E. Jean Carroll could seek damages from Donald Trump for the alleged rape, once a New York state law comes into effect on November 24. allowing you to file a civil complaint without taking into account the limitation periods. The ex-columnist claims in particular to be able to test Donald Trump’s DNA, claiming to have kept the dress she wore in plastic during the denounced events.