NEW YORK — As Donald Trump ran for president, more than a dozen women publicly accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Most of these claims, all denied by Trump, have never been brought to court. None have been tried. But that is about to change.
Jury selection begins Tuesday in the rape trial of E. Jean Carroll in federal court in New York. The former Elle magazine advice column alleges that Trump raped her in the dressing room of an upscale department store in the mid-1990s.
Carroll’s civil case took a winding road to trial. Now it comes as Trump seeks to return to the White House and battles a list of legal troubles, including his recent indictment for falsifying his business records to hide secret money payments to a porn star.
Here is an overview of the case and some key questions.
WHAT IS THE TRUMP AFFAIR?
Carroll says a chance meeting with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman suddenly turned into sexual violence in 1995 or 1996. According to her court complaint, Trump took her to a dressing room after she joked about being trying on a costume, then pinned her against a wall while she tried to free herself.
She said she finally got him down on one knee and ran out of the store. Two of Carroll’s friends said she told them about the alleged attack soon after. He never publicly denounced the police or anyone else until he told the story in a 2019 magazine excerpt and memoir. (The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll did.).
WHAT DID TRUMP SAY HAPPENED?
Nothing at all. “She said I did something to her that never happened. There was nothing,” Trump said when questioned under oath by Carroll’s attorneys in October. He denies meeting her at the store and accused her of making up the story to sell his When her account was first published, Trump said he had no idea who she was and played down a photo showing the two and their then-spouses interacting at a social event in 1987. When shown the image again during questioning in October, Trump misidentified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples.His former ex, the late Ivana Trump, is pictured.
ARE THERE ANY EYE WITNESSES? VIDEO? FORENSIC EVIDENCE?
Carroll’s legal team said there were no eyewitnesses to the alleged attack and any security footage that may have existed is long gone. For years, Carroll tried to match Trump’s DNA to unidentified male genetic material found on a dress she says she wore and never washed. His lawyers fought his request for a sample for a long time until February, when they offered a deal: To refute his request, he would waive the sample if his lawyers handed him the full DNA report on the dress. The judge said it was too late. The jurors won’t hear anything about the DNA and the dress.
WILL TRUMP BE IN THE TRIAL?
His presence is not necessary and does not seem probable. Trump’s lawyers said he wanted to attend, but the security needed to do so would be a burden on the city and the court. The judge, for his part, said he was confident that Trump can be protected in the Lower Manhattan courthouse, where security is already tight.
Even though Trump isn’t there, jurors will hear from him via video of his cross-examination last fall. Carroll, for his part, plans to be present every day and testify, according to his lawyers.
IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTION IN THE TRUMP CASE?
No. The legal time limit for filing criminal charges is too long.
SO WHY IS THIS CIVIL CASE IN COURT NOW?
It is complicated. When Carroll first came forward, the deadline to file a rape lawsuit had expired. But after Trump reacted to her accusations by saying she was “not my type” and was “totally lying”, Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against her in 2019. That case moved forward when lawyers of Trump have fought it in several ways, including moving him from state to federal court and claiming that Trump’s comments were part of his job as president, an argument that could have sunk the libel suit.
The courts are now weighing this issue. But in the meantime, New York has given people the option to sue over longstanding sexual abuse allegations. Carroll was one of the first to do so. (However, his case remained in federal court.) And Trump continued to publicly portray Carroll as a liar, which became the basis of a new defamation suit that will also be dealt with at trial.
WHAT DOES CARROLL WANT?
Retraction and unspecified damages.
WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER WOMEN WHO ACCUSE TRUMP OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT?
Two of them are to testify in the Carroll case. Jurors are also expected to listen to the infamous 2005 “Access Hollywood” hot-mic recording of Trump crudely bragging that fame has given him carte blanche to kiss and grope women. Not implicated in the case are two other women who sued Trump after he went public with allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances. These cases were dismissed or dropped.