Columnist E Jean Carroll’s (right) lawyer argued that she was ‘exactly’ former President Donald Trump’s (left) type in closing arguments of the rape and defamation trial (Pictures: AP/Reuters/Getty Images)
Ex-President Donald Trump’s rape accuser was ‘exactly’ his type and he decided against appearing in the trial because ‘he knows what he did’, her lawyer claimed.
Columnist E Jean Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan in the civil rape trial closing arguments showed jurors Trump’s video deposition in which he confused a picture of Carroll for his second wife Marla Maples.
Trump had said in his October deposition that Carroll – who claims he raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s – was ‘not my type’. But Trump during his out-of-court testimony also said, ‘It’s Marla’, when Kaplan presented a 1980s photo of Carroll. When corrected, Trump then said the image was ‘very blurry’.
‘It’s not at all blurry,’ Kaplan told the jury on Monday morning, adding that Carroll was ‘exactly his type’.
Columnist E Jean Carroll arrives for her civil trial against former President Donald Trump at Manhattan federal court on Monday (Picture: Getty Images)
An image presented as evidence during former President Donald Trump’s deposition shows E Jean Carroll (second from left) and her then-husband John Johnson (center) meeting Trump (left) and his first wife Ivana at an event in the 1980’s (Picture: AP)
Trump saw a Sunday evening deadline to pass without asking to appear in Manhattan federal court to testify. His lawyers did not present witnesses.
Kaplan argued that Trump did not show up because ‘he knows what he did’.
Carroll’s lawyer added that a 2015 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump said women allowed him to ‘grab ’em by the pussy’ supported the sexual assault claims by Carroll and other women. Trump in his deposition defended his infamous remark by saying, ‘historically, that’s true, with stars… if you look over the last million years’.
‘For E Jean Carroll, this is not about the money,’ Kaplan said of the rape and defamation case, but rather ‘about getting her name back’.
Ex-President Donald Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina makes closing arguments during a civil trial where former Elle magazine advice columnist E Jean Carroll accuses Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s (Picture: Reuters)
After a break, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina in his closing arguments called the case an ‘affront’ to the justice system.
‘What E Jean Carroll has done here is an affront to justice,’ said Tacopina. ‘She has abused this system by bringing a false claim for amongst other things money, status, political reasons.’
Tacopina accused Carroll of inventing her claims to boost sales of her 2019 memoir. He pointed out that the Bergdorf Goodman store was a public place, and asked why no one saw the assault and Carroll’s tights did not rip.
‘It’s the most ridiculous, disgusting story,’ Tacopina said. ‘It’s just made up.’
Columnist E Jean Carroll watches as ex-President Donald Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina makes closing arguments on Monday (Credits: Reuters)
Tacopina said Trump did not have a real reason to testify because the alleged rape did not happen. He accused Carroll of scheming with two of her friends who testified, Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin.
‘If something is completely made up, the only way to defend yourself against that accusation is by challenging the people who made it up and the story itself,’ he said.
Carroll is seeking monetary damages and for Trump to retract his statements about her. Kaplan did not ask for a specific amount of money from jurors.
Kaplan’s closing arguments ran 75 minutes, while Tacopina continued to speak around the two-hour mark.
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Jurors heard closing arguments in a civil rape case against ex-President Donald Trump brought by columnist E Jean Carroll.