He is said to have raped her in a department store
Author may proceed with lawsuit against Trump
Jean Carroll has accused former US President Donald Trump of raping her. Trump denies the allegations. A judge allowed the lawsuit to continue.
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Always rejected the rape allegation: Ex-US President Donald Trump.
US author Jean Carroll (79) is allowed to proceed with a lawsuit alleging rape against former US President Donald Trump (76) before a New York court. That was decided on Friday by a federal district court in Manhattan, as US media reported unanimously. The 79-year-old accuses the Republican of raping her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s. Trump denies the allegation.
So far, Carroll had not indicted the ex-president himself for the rape allegation, but only for defamation. Because the deadline for filing criminal charges for sexual assaults in the 1990s had long since expired.
Appearance in Mar-a-Lago: Here Donald Trump announces his presidential candidacy(01:51)
Trump called Carroll a ‘crazy’
Carroll’s attorneys then filed the new lawsuit in November, immediately after new law went into effect in the state of New York. In it, she demands damages for bodily harm and damage to reputation, among other things, as the complaint shows. The new law gives victims of sexual violence the opportunity to sue in cases that occurred further in the past.
Trump’s lawyers had tried to stop the new lawsuit from being admitted until Friday’s decision. However, federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan called their argument that the new law was unconstitutional “absurd”.
The court also released previously sealed excerpts of a transcript of Trump’s testimony from the ongoing defamation case. In it, the ex-president described Carroll as “crazy” and accused her lawyer of political intentions.
Trump wants to appeal
The defamation proceedings, which have been ongoing for some time, are about statements from 2019. Carroll had made the allegation of rape public in a book excerpt at the time. Trump rejected the allegations – among other things, saying that Carroll was not his type. He also accused her of only wanting to sell her book. Carroll then sued Trump for portraying her as a liar and thus defaming her.
In a statement Friday, Trump’s attorney said she and her client were “disappointed” with the decision and planned to appeal. (SDA)