E Jean Carroll and Trump lawyers spar in NY court over rape claim

Tense exchanges marked the cross-examination of writer E Jean Carroll as she took the stand for a second day in her rape trial against Donald Trump.

Mr Trump’s attorneys pressed her on details of her allegation the former president assaulted her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.

“I’m telling you he raped me whether I screamed or not,” she responded at one point when pushed on her reaction.

Mr Trump has consistently denied her accusation, calling it “fiction”.

The rape and defamation civil trial is being heard in a New York federal court and is expected to last about two weeks.

Mr Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina spent Thursday afternoon trying to cast doubt on Ms Carroll’s story.

When he repeatedly noted that she could not recall the exact date of the alleged rape, a frustrated Ms Carroll replied: “I wish to heaven we could give you a date.”

The former columnist for Elle magazine conceded at one point that certain parts of her story were “difficult to conceive of”.

But when Mr Tacopina remarked that Ms Carroll was “supposedly raped”, the writer quickly responded: “Not supposedly. I was raped, those are the facts.”

Mr Tacopina also tried to make the case that Ms Carroll, a Democrat, only came forward with her allegation against Mr Trump to sell a book proposal and disliked his politics.

Ms Carroll’s first made public her allegation that Mr Trump raped her in 2019, including details in her memoir released that year. She testified to telling two friends about the attack, who gave conflicting advice about whether she should go public with her story.

The columnist responded she was motivated to come forward by the #MeToo movement, saying it made her believe women telling their stories “might be the way to challenge the culture of sexual violence”.

Mr Tacopina also questioned Ms Carroll about why she did not take legal action against Les Moonves, a former CBS executive she also accuses of sexual assault.

She said she never sued Mr Moonves – who has denied her allegation – because he “stayed quiet”.

Mr Trump “said I was in a conspiracy with the Democratic Party. He said I was trying to sell a book, that I was too ugly to rape”, she testified.

In direct examination by her own lawyer, Ms Carroll said she was not motivated by money to sue the former president.

“It’s about getting my name back,” she testified.

The 79-year-old columnist is seeking unspecified damages from Mr Trump, 76.

Mr Trump, who is running in the 2024 presidential election, has repeatedly denied her allegations.

She was able to bring the civil case after New York passed the Adult Survivors Act in 2022, which allowed a one-year period for victims to file sexual assault lawsuits in the state over claims that would have normally exceeded statute limitations.