From left: E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump.
“I don’t know this woman, have no idea who she is, other than it seems she got a picture of me many years ago, with her husband, shaking my hand on a reception line at a celebrity charity event,” Trump said in a statement posted to his social media site, Truth Social.
Trump’s statement continued: “She completely made up a story that I met her at the doors of this crowded New York City Department Store and, within minutes, ‘swooned’ her. It is a Hoax and a lie, just like all the other Hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years.”
Carroll, now 78, went public with her account of assault in 2019, after which Trump said inan interview: “No. 1: She’s not my type” and, further, that he had “never met this person in my life.” (Trump and Carroll have been photographed together, though the former president has said that was an incidental moment.)
After Trump made the accusation that Carroll was “totally lying” about the rape on Twitter, claiming she made up the allegation in order to help sell her memoir, Carroll sued for defamation.
In her suit, Carroll argues that Trump’s claims caused her “emotional pain and suffering” and damaged “her reputation, honor, and dignity” — and thus her career.
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that Trumpmust answer questions under oathas part of the lawsuit, with the deposition scheduled for Oct. 19.
“The defendant should not be permitted to run the clock out on [Carroll’s] attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong,” Kaplan said in therulingordering Trump to sit for a deposition.
In a statement sent to PEOPLE, Carroll’s counsel Roberta Kaplan said, “We are pleased that Judge Kaplan agreed with our position not to stay discovery in this case. We look forward to filing our case under the Adult Survivors Act and moving forward to trial with all dispatch.”
“And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will,” Trump said in his statement published Wednesday. “This woman is not my type! She has no idea what day, what week, what month, what year, or what decade this so-called ‘event’ supposedly took place. The reason she doesn’t know is because it never happened, and she doesn’t want to get caught up with details or facts that can be proven wrong.”
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As somelegal experts pointed out, it may not be in Trump’s best interest to continue criticizing Carroll, considering his alleged defamation of her character is exactly what she’s suing him for.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
source: people.com
