justice
Author in civil trial: “Trump raped me”
The former advice columnist Jean Carroll (right) leaves the federal court in Manhattan in New York with her lawyers. photo
© Mary Altaffer/AP/dpa
She was a successful author and he was a powerful businessman. A harmless flirt apparently turned into a nightmare – now Jean Carroll is testifying in court.
The US author Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of sex crimes in her testimony in the civil trial against the former president. “Trump raped me,” said the 79-year-old in New York about Trump’s alleged act in a New York luxury department store in the mid-1990s. According to media reports, she told the jury how Trump first approached her and asked for help with a gift for a friend.
As a result, he signaled her to go into a dressing room with him. According to Carroll, he pressed himself against her there and penetrated the writer first with his fingers and then with his penis. Carroll went on to say that she eventually pushed Trump away and fled the department store. “I was ashamed, I thought it was my fault,” Carroll said, according to the New York Times. After the incident, she was unable to enter into romantic relationships.
Real estate entrepreneur Trump, who was not yet a politician at the time, denied the accusation. The criminal allegations are statute-barred, but under civil law Carroll was free to file a lawsuit. It is estimated that the trial – which started on Monday – could take a week. Trump himself has not yet appeared.
The 76-year-old Trump is being investigated for a number of possible crimes. He himself describes law enforcement’s actions against him as politically motivated because he is running again as a Republican presidential candidate for the 2024 election.