E. Jean Carroll testified in her civil case alleging Donald Trump of rape on Wednesday, stating of the alleged encounter, “my whole reason for being alive in that moment was to get out of that room.”
Carroll, a magazine columnist, has accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. In a trial that began Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, she is suing him for violence and defamation. He has denied the charges, claiming that the encounter “never happened” and that she staged a “hoax.”
“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me,” Carroll explained to the jury on Wednesday. “And when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” she stated, referring to a book she wrote in which she documented the alleged occurrence. He lied to me and ruined my reputation. And I’m here to try to reclaim my life.”
Trump’s attorneys will cross-examine Carroll. It was unclear when the questioning would begin Wednesday afternoon.
Carroll, 79, was matter-of-fact during her original testimony, but when one of her lawyers, Mike Ferrara, asked her about the time Trump allegedly placed his penis into Carroll, she faltered, took a long pause, and began to cry. “I….I…I tried.” “I…” she paused before continuing. “When you asked what I did in that moment, I always think back to why I walked in there to get myself in that situation,” she sobbed. “But I did get out.”
Carroll, a longstanding Elle magazine advice columnist, said that she and Trump had met years before the alleged event and that she liked him. “I thought he was well-known, a raconteur, and a man-about-town,” she explained. “Well-liked.” She responded yes when asked if she thought he was beautiful.
Carroll claims she ran into Trump at Bergdorf’s and he requested her to assist him in selecting a gift. “Oh, I was delighted,” she recounted. “Well, it was a hilarious New York scene.” I was born to write advice columns. I enjoy giving advise, and here was Donald Trump asking for it about buying a present.”
Carroll claims she cannot recall the specific date but believes it was in late 1995 or early 1996. In his opening statement on Tuesday, Trump’s lawyer attempted to use the lack of a date to undercut her narrative.
Carroll, on the other hand, presented a comprehensive narrative of what she claims happened that day in her evidence on Wednesday. She and Trump toured the store before heading up the escalator to the lingerie area on the sixth story, she added. Carroll testified that the tone of their chat was “very joshing” and light-hearted, and the two taunted each other about who should try on a lace bodysuit. “I was probably flirting the whole time,” she admitted.
She claimed Trump grabbed her arm and led her to a dressing room. When asked if she had ever considered saying no, she answered, “it didn’t occur to me.”
“The door was open, and that open door has haunted me for years because I walked right into it.” “I just walked in,” she exclaimed, stunned.
Carroll admitted that it took her a moment to realise that their happy encounter had taken a turn.
“He shut the door immediately and shoved me up against the wall,” she said. “And shoved me so hard that my head hit the ground.” I was really perplexed, suddenly realising that what I believed was happening was not.”
She said that she did not yell or call for help. “This is going to sound strange, but I didn’t want to cause a scene,” she explained. “I didn’t want to irritate him.” This began off as something lighthearted, light, and funny to tell folks you were eating dinner with, and then it got very gloomy.”
Carroll stated that she was 5’9″ and about 120 pounds at the time, wearing 4-inch heels, making her roughly Trump’s height but about 100 pounds lighter. “His head was right beside mine, breathing,” she explained.
“His entire weight came up against my chest and held me up.” “And he leaned down and pulled my tights down,” she explained. “I was pushing him back,” she demonstrated by holding out her hands.
Carroll described herself as “stamping and trying to wriggle out from under him.”
“But he had pulled down my tights, and his fingers went into my vagina, and it was extremely painful,” she explained. “It was excruciatingly painful because he put his hand inside me and curved his fingers.” “I can still feel it as I sit here today,” she added, her voice quivering.
“Then what happened?” Ferrara, her lawyer, inquired. “Then he inserted his penis,” she claimed, adding that the alleged assault lasted only a few minutes. “I had so much adrenaline coursing through me at the time that I can’t remember saying anything.”
Carroll said she fled the store and rushed out onto Fifth Avenue after pushing Trump off of her.
“Sitting here today, how do you feel about going into that dressing room?” Ferrara inquired.
“It was very stupid,” Carroll said. “It shifted…” she paused. “I realise individuals have gone through far worse than this, but…It abandoned me, leaving me unable to have a romantic life again.”
Carroll stated that she immediately contacted one friend, Lisa Birnbach, and informed another friend, Carol Martin, the following day. She claimed she never told anyone else until she made her account public in 2019.
When asked if she was concerned about how others would react, she stated that she was not. “No, I knew how the others would react,” she explained. “Raped women are treated as soiled goods.” They are regarded as less.”