On Thursday, April 27, author E. Jean Carroll discussed her civil violence and defamation complaint against former US President Donald Trump in which she claimed that she had been raped by him.
The writer spoke before the jury about her encounter with him at a New York department shop in 1996 despite being questioned by Trump’s lawyer during cross-examination.
The focus of Trump’s legal team was on Carroll’s failure to alert other customers in the store where she alleges the rape occurred or to publicly report the alleged rape at the time.
Joe Tacopina, the attorney for Trump, frequently questioned Carroll about why she did not scream either during the roughly three-minute claimed attack in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, or even later.
I’m not a screamer,” Carroll testified at the US District Court in Manhattan. “I was too much in panic to scream.”
“You can’t beat up on me for not screaming,” she told the defense lawyer. “Women who don’t come forward, one of the reasons they don’t come forward is they are asked why they didn’t scream. Some women scream, some women don’t. It keeps women silent.”
Carroll added: “I’m telling you, he raped me whether I screamed or not. I don’t need an excuse for not screaming
Carroll accuses Trump of raping her in the spring of 1996 and then defaming her when she came out with the claims years later. Carroll is suing Trump for violence and defamation. Trump has always refuted her claims, claiming that she “is not his type.”
Carroll spoke of fighting with Trump in the dressing room, just like she did on Wednesday at the prior trial.
“I was very confused, the first push, I thought ‘he couldn’t have meant that.’ I thought he had made a mistake. I thought it was very strange,” Carroll said.
“I was trying to figure out what the hell was going … we had jut been laughing 12, 15 seconds before and here I am being pushed up against the wall. It just didn’t make any sense,” she added. “Then he put his mouth against mine and then I understood.”
Carroll said that Trump had her leaning against the wall and was being held there by the weight of her shoulder when she finally kneed him in the back.
“For me it was a colossal struggle,” she said, yet she never let go of her purse and was wearing 4-inch heels, she acknowledged to Tacopina. “I can dance backwards and forwards in 4-inch heels.”
Carroll testified that she didn’t speak to Trump after leaving the changing room out of concern that he might pursue her and grab her. She exited after using the six stories of escalators but failed to spot any customers.
“I wasn’t looking for people. I was looking to get out,” she testified.
Carroll’s lawyer questioned her earlier on Thursday about why she was suing the former president and what had transpired since she filed the lawsuit.
“I think rape is one of the most violent and horrible things that can happen to a woman or a man,” Carroll said.
“I don’t particularly like attention because – I’m suing. Getting attention for being raped is not – It’s hard. Getting attention for making a great three-bean salad, that would be good,” she said.
In response to a question from her lawyer Mike Ferrara about how often she regrets filing the lawsuit, she said, “About 5 times a day,” adding, “It doesn’t feel pleasant to be under threat.”
Her initial complaint was referred to as a “con job” by Trump. Carroll nodded in agreement as Ferrara projected Trump’s comments for the jury to watch on a screen.
When the statement was made, she was just standing up when “boom, he knocks me back down again,” she testified.
Tacopina, the attorney for Trump, questioned her about the veracity of her story.
Using your own words, the facts you have alleged in the story, you have alleged here, are odd,” he asked.
“Certain parts of this story are difficult to conceive of, yes,” Carroll said.
Tacopina allegedly questioned Carroll about an email that suggested she and her pals had collaborated to develop a strategy against Trump during one line of questioning.
“As soon as we are both well enough to scheme, we must do our patriotic duty again,” Carroll’s friend Carol Martin emailed her on September 23, 2017, one piece of evidence showed.
“TOTALLY!!!” Carroll responded in an email. “I have something special for you when we meet.”
Carroll said during her testimony that she didn’t sure what the phrase “something special” meant in the now more than five-year-old email.
“This is an email … that I have no recollection of. I suspect it’s something funny. I can’t imagine what it is. I have no idea,” she said. “I don’t recall anything about this email.”
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