Global Courant
Writer E. Jean Carroll accused the former US president of defaming her in 2019 by denying that he assaulted her in a department store dressing room.
Former US President Donald Trump has arrived in a New York courtroom to defend himself for a second time against charges that he defamed writer E Jean Carroll after she accused him of rape.
Trump, who has said he wants to testify at the civil trial, sat two tables behind Carroll, who accuses him of defaming her in 2019 by denying that he assaulted her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan.
The 80-year-old Carroll is seeking at least $10 million in damages.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, told potential jurors Tuesday that they only had to consider how much Trump should pay Carroll in damages, not whether the alleged attack took place or whether Trump lied about it.
He added that the process is expected to take three to five days.
Former President Donald Trump arrives for a Fox News Channel town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, US (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Trump has labeled himself a victim of political persecution and said Kaplan should dismiss the case.
“Judge Kaplan must immediately put this entire corrupt, Crooked Joe Biden-directed election interference attack on me to rest,” he said on social media.
“He should do it for America.”
Trump has so far pleaded not guilty in four criminal cases that could potentially land him in prison before November’s presidential election, including two in which he is accused of trying to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.
He is also a defendant in at least two other civil cases. But Trump has already lost one defamation case against Carroll.
In May last year, a jury ordered Trump to pay the former Elle columnist $5 million for sexually assaulting and defaming her during the meeting.
Trump has said he did not know Carroll and that she fabricated the meeting to sell her memoir. He is also appealing the $5 million reward.
Kaplan, who also presided over that case, said he has ruled out Trump arguing that he did not defame or sexually assault Carroll, or that she fabricated her story.
In recent weeks, Trump has stepped up his attacks on Carroll, including saying she did not know the decade of their meeting.
He also called Kaplan “terrible, biased, irrationally angry.”
Trump may face an uphill battle to escape significant additional damage over Kaplan’s pre-trial statements.
These include banning Trump from suggesting he did not rape Carroll, as New York criminal law defines the term, because the first jury did not find that Trump committed rape.
Kaplan has ruled that because Trump used his fingers in the attack, Carroll’s rape claim was “substantially true.”
Trump also cannot discuss DNA evidence or Carroll’s sexual activities, or suggest that Democrats are funding her case. Carroll is a Democrat.
And like the first trial, jurors will be able to see Access Hollywood’s 2005 video in which Trump graphically described the ability of famous people like himself to have sexual relationships with beautiful women.
Trump did not retract his comments when asked about them in a 2022 statement. Kaplan has said the video “could provide useful insight into Mr. Trump’s state of mind” toward Carroll.
Trump attorney Alina Habba assured Kaplan on Sunday that he was “well aware” of the court’s rulings “and the strict limitations placed on his testimony.”
