Rape accuser says Trump 'lied' and 'shattered' her reputation

The writer suing Donald Trump for allegedly raping her nearly 30 years ago told jurors at a civil trial on Wednesday that the former US president sexually assaulted her and defamed her by lying about it.

"I'm here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he lied and said it didn't happen," E Jean Carroll said in Manhattan federal court. "He lied and shattered my reputation, and I'm here to try and get my life back."

Carroll, 79, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, is seeking unspecified damages from Trump, 76, who leads the Republican field in the 2024 presidential campaign.

She is suing over an alleged encounter in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in late 1995 or early 1996, where she says Trump raped her until she was able to flee.

Carroll is suing Trump for defamation after he denied her rape claim in an October post on his Truth Social media platform, saying he had not known her, that she was not his "type," and that she made up the claim to sell her memoir.

She is also suing under New York's Adult Survivors Act, which lets adults sue their alleged abusers long after statutes of limitations have run out.

'I can still feel it,' Trump's accuser says

Carroll testified that she had met Trump years before the alleged rape, finding him "very personable" and a "man about town."

At Bergdorf, Carroll recalled that she was leaving the store when Trump recognized her and held up his hand, prompting her to stop.

"He said, 'Hey, you are that advice lady,'" Carroll recalled. "I said, 'Hey, you are that real estate tycoon.'"

Carroll said she and Trump engaged in banter, describing his tone as "joshing," with Trump seeking to buy lingerie for another woman.

She said Trump asked her to try on a piece of lingerie, prompting her to joke that he should try it on.

Carroll said Trump then ushered her to an open dressing room, shut the door, shoved her against a wall, and pulled down her tights.

Trump's fingers "went into my vagina, which was extremely painful, extremely painful," and he also "inserted his penis," she said. "As I'm sitting here today I can still feel it."

Carroll choked up and fought back tears as she described pushing him back.

Asked by her lawyer if she told Trump "no," Carroll said: "I don't recall saying it. I may have said it."

Carroll said she blamed herself at the time, and feared she would lose her job and Trump would retaliate if she reported him.

She also said the damage was long-lasting.

"It left me unable to ever have a romantic life again," she added.

Lawyers for Trump are expected to question Carroll, including over her inability to remember when the encounter took place.

She recalled it was on a Thursday night, but "I can't say I'm 100% sure."

A six-man, three-woman jury is expected to decide whether to hold Trump liable for damages, and, if so, how much he owes.

The trial began on Tuesday, and is expected to last one to two weeks.

Trump is warned by judge

Trump is not attending the trial, nor is he required to be there.

But Trump stood by his criticism of Carroll in two posts on Wednesday on Truth Social, prompting US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to warn he could face more legal problems if he kept discussing the case.

"Does anybody believe that I would take a then almost 60 year old woman that I didn't know, from the front door of a very crowded department store, (with me being very well known, to put it mildly!), into a tiny dressing room," Trump wrote. "She didn’t scream? There are no witnesses? Nobody saw this?"

Trump also called Carroll's accusations "a made up scam" and said: "This is a fraudulent & false story – Witch Hunt!"

That led Kaplan to tell Trump's legal team, outside the jury's presence, that Trump appeared to be "endeavoring, certainly, to speak to his quote-unquote public" and to the jury about matters that have "no business being spoken about."

The judge added that Trump could be "tampering with a new source of liability" if he continued.

Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina told the judge he would speak with Trump on Wednesday, and "ask him to refrain from any further posts on this case.... I will do the best I can do."

Other possible witnesses for Carroll include two friends in whom she confided about Trump's alleged rape, and two other women who have accused Trump of sexual assault.