United States: E. Jean Carroll, the writer suing Donald Trump for defamation, denied on Thursday that her reputation had improved since she publicly accused the former US president of rape.
Under questioning from Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba at a civil damages trial in federal court in Manhattan, Carroll, 80, acknowledged obtaining greater media and celebrity attention since announcing her rape claim in June 2019 but also acknowledged being publicly disparaged.
“My status is lowered,” Carroll told Habba. “I am partaking in this trial to bring my old reputation and status back.”
Trump was framed for defamation and violation
Carroll is suing Trump for at least $10 million over two statements he made as president, in which he denied attacking her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and claimed she made up the story to promote her memoir. Lewis Kaplan, US District Judge, has already stated that Trump in 2019 defamed and sexually violated her by putting his fingers up her vagina forcefully.
The nine-person jury simply needs to decide how much Trump should pay Carroll in damages.
Trump’s Political Response
Trump, a Republican, has used the trial and other legal issues to rally followers and generate donations for his 2024 presidential campaign, claiming the proceedings are part of a political plan.
He has separately pled not guilty in four state and federal criminal proceedings, two of which allege that he attempted to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Publicity Surrounding Carroll’s Case
E. Jean Carrolls Rape case was publicized in many books except in New York magazine. Habba told jurors that before the white house denied her claim, she was being attacked on Twitter for five hours, portraying her as a “disgrace” and promoting “fake news” to ruin Trump’s 2020 reelection bid.
Habba attempted to demonstrate that Trump’s denial did not destroy Carroll’s reputation, as Carroll had testified on Wednesday, and that the writer had used her claim to gain newfound renown as a feminist advocate.
Carroll acknowledged that the $5 million verdict has received support from celebrities such as Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cusack, Bette Midler, Alyssa Milano, Rob Reiner, and Mira Sorvino but has also elicited a “wave of slime” from critics.
“I am more well known, and I am hated by a lot more people,” Carroll said.
Trump’s Social Media Response
Trump appeared in court on Wednesday but left on Thursday to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral in Florida.
In overnight tweets on his Truth Social website, Trump linked to Carroll’s earlier testimony that she threw out some letters from those who condemned her for coming forward, as well as her ownership of an unregistered rifle acquired from her father.
“Now that E. Jean Carroll has admitted to illegally deleting and destroying mountains of evidence (as well as) it seems, unlawfully owning a gun and buying ammunition!) if Judge Lewis Kaplan does the right and PATRIOTIC thing, he will immediately dismiss the current Election Interfering Witch Hunt Trial,” Trump wrote.
Kaplan had warned him on Wednesday that he might be expelled from the trial if he kept making statements loud enough for the jury to hear after Carroll’s lawyers said they could hear Trump calling their client’s case a “witch hunt” and “con job.”
Following Carroll’s testimony, a Northwestern University professor began speaking about how Trump’s comments affected Carroll’s reputation.