Proceedings
Rape allegation against Trump: Trial dismissed
E. Jean Carroll (M), former advice columnist, arrives at federal court in Manhattan. A civil trial over rape allegations against Donald Trump has begun in the absence of the former US President. photo
© John Minchillo/AP/dpa
The allegations against Donald Trump have become statute-barred, but they are now going to court. A woman accuses the former US President of raping her decades ago.
In the civil trial against former US President Donald Trump over allegations of rape, the judge in charge refused to terminate the proceedings. According to US media reports, Trump’s lawyers had asked on Monday to end the process without a result because the court had repeatedly made “unfair and harmful decisions” in the process. Judge Lewis Kaplan denied the motion.
The now 79-year-old US author Jean Carroll accuses Trump of raping her in a New York luxury department store in the mid-1990s. 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. The process, which began last week, could take several more days. Trump himself has not yet appeared.
The 76-year-old Trump is being investigated for a number of possible crimes. He himself describes the actions of law enforcement agencies against him as politically motivated because he wants to run again as a Republican presidential candidate in the 2024 election.