“Donald Trump’s Defamation Case: E Jean Carroll Accusations, Testimony, and Verdict”

So you think that someone who is a “star” can just grab women in the crotch, asked the lawyer. “Historically, that is true for stars,” replied the defendant. “If you look at the last million years, that is generally the case. Not always, but usually. Unfortunately or fortunately.”

In the defamation case that journalist E. Jean Carroll has brought against Donald Trump, the former president does not want to testify in court. The judge had given him and his lawyers until Sunday five hours to reconsider, but this weekend there was no indication that he intends to do so. After the closing arguments, scheduled for this Monday, it will be up to the jury to reach a verdict from later this week.

The above dialogue between Trump and Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan comes from an earlier hearing (under oath) in this case that took place on October 19 and video footage has been released. Kaplan showed Trump, among other things, an infamous recording from 2005 in which he tells a radio host that a star can do anything with impunity. You can kiss women on the mouth without being asked and grab their crotch. “You can make anything.” Do you consider yourself a star, asked the lawyer. “I think so, yes,” Trump said.

The civil case centers on Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually assaulted and raped her in 1996 in the dressing room of an upscale New York department store. In court, she stated that she was never able to have a sexual or romantic relationship with a man again.

Trumps alibi

The case was filed in 2022, during a brief window of time in which New York State gave victims of sexual assault the opportunity to file a case about acts that happened so long ago that they would normally be considered time-barred.

Ten witnesses appeared in support of Carroll. Two friends told the judge that Carroll told them at the time that Trump had raped her. Other women made similar accusations about him.

A ‘star’ simply gets away with a lot, including assault, Trump believes

On the other hand, there are the innocence claims of Trump, who was, among other things, playing golf on his own courses in Scotland during the session days. One of those incantations is that he didn’t find Carroll attractive enough to want to have sex with. Point one: she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office while he was president.

He has made that same statement before in response to similar allegations. When attorney Kaplan questioned him about it during questioning, Trump became agitated and said, “You wouldn’t be my choice either, honestly.” He could not imagine that there would be “any circumstance in which I would be interested in you.”