E-Paper
Donald Trump's lawyer grills E Jean Carroll as ‘attention’ seeker
Donald Trump's lawyer challenges E. Jean Carroll's credibility, while Carroll seeks justice and restoration of her reputation.
E. Jean Carroll, the writer and the former magazine columnist who accused former President Donald Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room, faced a barrage of questions from Trump’s lawyer on Thursday in a New York court.
Carroll, 80, is suing Trump for defamation, seeking more than $10 million in damages, after he denied knowing her and called her a liar. She claims that Trump sexually assaulted her in 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman, where he allegedly forced his fingers inside her.
Trump, 77, who was attending his mother-in-law’s funeral in Florida, did not appear in court on Thursday, but his lawyer Alina Habba tried to undermine Carroll’s credibility by suggesting that she had benefited from the publicity of her accusation.
Habba asked Carroll if she had enjoyed the attention and praise she received from celebrities like Bette Midler, who congratulated her on winning a $5 million verdict in a separate trial last May. That trial found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, but did not confirm that he raped Carroll.
Is Carroll really getting more social attention?
Carroll admitted that she liked the compliments, but denied that her social “status” had improved. She said that she had also faced a lot of hatred and threats from Trump’s supporters, who sent her hundreds of abusive messages online.
“I’m more well known, but I’m hated by a lot more people,” Carroll testified.
She also said that she had been invited to two parties hosted by Vanity Fair writer Molly Jong-Fast, where she met other celebrities, after she came forward with her allegation in June 2019.
But she insisted that her main motive for suing Trump was to restore her reputation and status, which had been “lowered” by his false denial.
“I’m partaking in this trial to get my old reputation and status back,” she said, wearing a white blazer and a brown turtleneck shirt.
The trial, which is expected to last a week, is overseen by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has already ruled that Trump acted with “malice” when he defamed Carroll by saying that she accused him of rape to get “publicity.”
ALSO READ| Trump deals major blow as Biden retakes lead over ex-US President in two new polls
The jury of nine New Yorkers will decide how much money Trump will have to pay Carroll, who is also seeking punitive damages to deter him from continuing to slander her.
The trial will resume on Monday, after a break on Friday. Judge Kaplan has said that Carroll’s claim that Trump “raped” her is still “substantially true” in the modern sense of the word, even though the jury in the previous trial was not convinced that he used his penis.
