Donald Trump Faces Testimony from Women Expected to Corroborate Rape Allegations
Today, two women will take the stand in a defamation lawsuit against former POTUS Donald Trump, expected to corroborate rape allegations by writer E Jean Carroll.
Tristan Green
Former President Donald Trump is facing a rape defamation lawsuit from writer E Jean Carroll. The incident in question allegedly took place in 1996. Carroll is suing for battery and defamation.
But Trump is not in the courtroom to face his accusers, he’s in Scotland opening a golf course.
Taking the stand today, however, are two very consequential people – two women expected to corroborate Carroll’s allegations against Trump, and who could be instrumental to proving the case against him.
See: DONALD TRUMP UNCOMFORTABLY COMPARES HIMSELF TO ‘VILIFIED’ ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Two Women Take the Stand Against Donald Trump Today
Former federal prosecutor Jessica Roth speaks with CNN’s @JohnBerman about the latest developments in E. Jean Carroll’s civil case against former President Donald Trump. Watch: pic.twitter.com/v9UXJftXYv
— CNN (@CNN) May 2, 2023
Today, two of Carroll’s friends will take the stand to provide information they received about the alleged rape back when it happened – two people whose accounts can solidify that this isn’t just a retroactive money grab by Carroll as Trump has implied.
The Guardian reports, “Carroll’s legal team is expected to call two women, Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin, to testify that the advice columnist told them about the alleged assault shortly after it occurred. Both have since corroborated the account.
Carroll told the jury that she called Birnbach shortly after she fled the Bergdorf Goodman department store. She said that Birnbach told her the alleged attack was rape and to call the police. Carroll said that she later spoke to Martin, who advised her to keep quiet because Trump was a powerful businessman who would ‘bury’ her.
During cross-examination, Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, pressed Carroll repeatedly about why she did not call the police, and suggested it was evidence she fabricated the accusation against the former president.
On Monday, Carroll defended her decision as the typical response of women of her generation who are ‘ashamed’ to have been sexually assaulted.”
Carroll explained, “I was born in 1943. I’m a member of the silent generation. Women like me were taught to keep our chins up and to not complain. I would never call the police about something I am ashamed of.”
But as she got older and the #MeToo movement took off, Carroll decided that she had been silent long enough. She told the court, ““I reached a point in my life at 76 where I was no longer going to stay silent.”
Birnbach and Martin are expected to verify that Carroll told them about the assault when it happened.
Trump Isn’t Even in the Court Room
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But despite the fact that this is a high-stakes lawsuit putting his reputation on the line, Trump is nowhere near the court room today.
Instead, he’s in Scotland, opening a new golf course in Aberdeenshire.
After landing in Scotland, Trump told the press, “It’s great to be home — this was the home of my mother.”
The Hill writes, “‘Will be meeting with many wonderful friends, and cutting a ribbon for a new and SPECTACULAR Second Course in Aberdeen,’ Trump said on Truth Social ahead of the visit. ‘Very exciting despite the fact that it is ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN’ that is on my mind, in fact, America will be GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!’
The former president’s visit came as Carroll appeared for her third and final day on the stand at a Manhattan courthouse. Carroll has accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s and is suing the former president for battery and defamation.”
Trump’s absence is not an accident.
So far, the judge overseeing the lawsuit has already warned Trump once over posting about it on social media, saying that he’s putting himself in legal peril by his actions.
As a result, Trump’s legal team probably wants him as far from the courtroom as possible – perhaps to distract him and keep him away from the “post” button.