Trump Lawyer Questions Rape Accuser E. Jean Carroll Over Motivations
E. Jean Carroll testifies in federal court in the at civil trial in which she has accused Donald Trump of assaulting her. Photo: JANE ROSENBERG/REUTERS By James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey April 27, 2023 2:53 pm ET A lawyer for Donald Trump questioned writer E. Jean Carroll at a civil trial, questioning whether money motivated her to come forward with accusations that the former president raped her in a department store in the 1990s. Ms. Carroll was testifying Thursday for a second day in a New York federal court, where a jury is considering a lawsuit the columnist filed last year against Mr. Trump that seeks damages for battery and defamation. She alleged in a 2019 book that Mr. Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room decades earlier in Ne
E. Jean Carroll testifies in federal court in the at civil trial in which she has accused Donald Trump of assaulting her.
Photo: JANE ROSENBERG/REUTERS
A lawyer for Donald Trump questioned writer E. Jean Carroll at a civil trial, questioning whether money motivated her to come forward with accusations that the former president raped her in a department store in the 1990s.
Ms. Carroll was testifying Thursday for a second day in a New York federal court, where a jury is considering a lawsuit the columnist filed last year against Mr. Trump that seeks damages for battery and defamation. She alleged in a 2019 book that Mr. Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room decades earlier in New York City. Mr. Trump has denied the allegations.
After Ms. Carroll gave her account to jurors Wednesday, she was crossed-examined Thursday by Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina, who sought to undercut her claims.
Mr. Tacopina peppered Ms. Carroll with questions about why she remained silent for more than two decades, asking whether she included Mr. Trump in her book to ink a deal with a publisher.
“When you were trying to sell your book and get money for your book is when you first mentioned the story about Donald Trump in Bergdorf Goodman, correct?” Mr. Tacopina asked, noting that she received a $70,000 book advance.
“Yes,” she responded.
Ms. Carroll told jurors that she was inspired to tell her account after the New York Times published stories in 2017 about Harvey Weinstein being accused of sexual assault. Mr. Weinstein has since been convicted of sex crimes.
“It caused me to realize that staying silent does not work,” Ms. Carroll said.
Mr. Tacopina questioned her over the date of the alleged incident. Ms. Carroll said she isn’t sure when exactly it happened but believes it was in the fall of 1995 or spring of 1996. She said she also thinks that the alleged encounter happened on a Thursday.
“You guessed on years and seasons but not the day, correct?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she responded.
Ms. Carroll said that she first decided to sue Mr. Trump after he called her a liar when she went public with her accusations.
Write to James Fanelli at [email protected] and Corinne Ramey at [email protected]
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