Carroll’s suit, filed on Thanksgiving Day 2022 in the U.S. Southern District of New York, alleges that Trump “forced her up against a dressing room wall, pinned her in place with his shoulder, and raped her” roughly 27 years ago in a fitting room at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue in New York City.
The complaint further alleges that Carroll “remained silent for over two decades” for fear of being buried in “threats and lawsuits” and damage to her reputation and livelihood.
It also claims that the incident “severely injured Carroll, causing significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological harms, loss of dignity, and invasion of her privacy” and seeks “redress for her injuries and to demonstrate that even a man as powerful as Trump can be held accountable under the law.”
The trialbegan two weeks ago, but Trump was deposed in the case earlier on. Footage of his pre-recorded testimony was shown to the jury in the trial last week and recently made public.
Below, some of the most significant moments from the former president’s headline-making deposition.
Trump said Carroll “loved it” when asked about the alleged sexual assault
In newly released deposition footage taken in preparation for the trial, the twice-impeached,recently indictedformer president suggested under oath that Carroll “loved it" when asked about the alleged assault.
Trump confused Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples
Trump mistook Carroll for his ex-wifeMarla Mapleswhen being questioned about a decades-old photo during his deposition.
When presented with the picture taken at a past party, in which Carroll is standing next to Trump, he noted several times that he believed Carroll to be his second wife, Maples.
“That’s Marla,” he stated. “That’s my wife.”
“Which woman are you pointing to?” Kaplan queried, as the photo also featured Trump’s first wife,Ivana Trump.
After mistaking Carroll for Maples, Kaplan asked the former president: “I take it the three women you’ve married are all your type.” Trump responded: “Yeah.”
“You look over the last million years, that’s been largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately,” Trump replied.
After the attorney asked, “Do you consider yourself to be a star?” Trump responded, “I think you can say that, yes.”
Natasha Stoynoff.Melanie Acevedo
Trump referred to accuser Natasha Stoynoff as someone who wrote ‘wonderful’ stories about him
Former PEOPLE writerNatasha Stoynoff took the standin the trial last week, serving as a witness for Carroll and recounting her own allegations against Trump, which she said took place while she was on assignment to profile him and his wife,Melania Trump, in 2005.
When Trump was reminded that Stoynoff was a onetime PEOPLE writer who had written about him in the past, he responded: “Oh I do remember there was some woman that wrote and then she, a long time later, I think, she wrote a wonderful story.”
He continued: “And then a long time later, as I remember it, a long time later, she said that I was aggressive with her. But she wrote the most beautiful story. And then all of a sudden, like, is it a year or two years later, she comes out with this phony story. That I was aggress— I said, ‘Well, why would she have written such a good story for PEOPLE magazine, she wrote a really nice piece?’ And then all of a sudden, like, you know, years or months, many months later, she came up with this phony charge.”
As she detailed in afirsthand account for PEOPLE, Stoynoff alleges the incident took place during a break from interviewing both Trump and his wife “about how happy their first year of marriage had been.”
“When we took a break for the then-very-pregnant Melania to go upstairs and change wardrobe for more photos, Donald wanted to show me around the mansion,” Stoynoff wrote. “There was one ‘tremendous’ room in particular, he said, that I just had to see.”
She continued: “We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.”
According to Stoynoff, she was thrown off balance before “Trump’s longtime butler burst into the room a minute later, as I tried to unpin myself.”
Six named sources came forwardfollowing Stoynoff’s initial accusation in 2016 to corroborate her story.
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
