Former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied raping columnist E. Jean Carroll, in video testimony presented in court, assuring the allegations were “fabricated”.
About 30 minutes of excerpts from Trump’s testimony were viewed by jurors, including his emphatic denial of the columnist’s accusation that he assaulted her in a dressing room at a Manhattan store in the mid-1990s.
“If that had happened, it would have been reported within minutes”Trump said, claiming customers and employees at the “very busy store” would have heard something and alerted authorities.
“It’s the most ridiculous and disgusting story. It’s just made up”Trump said in the video testimony, recorded in October.
On the same day, Trump’s lawyers said they would not call any witnesses and the judge said closing arguments will likely be presented on Monday before the jury begins deliberating on Tuesday.
Trump did not appear at the trial and will not testify, lending weight to his testimony.
Manhattan federal court jurors are expected to review other parts of Trump’s testimony on Thursday, followed by three more witnesses who will be called to testify by Carroll’s attorneys.
Carroll is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a retraction of Trump’s defamatory statements.
Trump denied knowing Carroll and later said, “She’s not my type”. And he argued that the allegations are politically motivated attempts to tarnish his reputation and remove him from the White House.
The courtroom saw more allegations of Trump’s inappropriate behavior with women and the replay of the “Access Hollywood” video, in which Trump bragged about grabbing women’s genitals without asking permission.
Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine writer, tearfully testified that Trump forcibly kissed her against her will while showing her his Mar-a-Lago estate shortly after Christmas 2005 for an article about his first wedding anniversary to his third wife, Melania.
Prior to the trial, Trump’s lawyers couldn’t prevent jurors from watching the “Access Hollywood” video and listening to Stoynoff, who said he had told few people about the alleged incident at the time, but decided to go public after seeing the video and Trump’s subsequent statements. denials in a debate in 2016.
Trump has denied ever trying to kiss Stoynoff.
Stoynoff’s testimony came a day after another woman, former stockbroker Jessica Leeds, testified that Trump groped her breasts and attempted to raise her skirt while they sat next to each other on an overnight airline flight in the ’70s.
Carroll kept the accusations against Trump a secret for 17 years, telling only two close friends before making them public in a 2019 memoir.
Trump’s lawyers attacked Carroll’s credibility through exhaustive cross-examination, questioning why he didn’t scream for help during the alleged assault and why he never went to the police.
A psychologist who testified on Carroll’s behalf said it was common for rape victims to remain silent and blame themselves.
Source: DN
