Jurors will begin deliberating on Tuesday whether Donald Trump raped writer E. Jean Carroll over two decades ago and then defamed her by claiming she made up the story.
After a seven-day civil trial, lawyers for Carroll and the former president delivered closing arguments in Manhattan federal court on Monday.
Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner in 2024, has denied raping Carroll and accused her of fabricating the story to boost sales of a 2019 memoir in which she made her claims public.
Carroll, 79, claims Trump, 76, raped her in a dressing room at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1995 or 1996, then defamed her by denying it. The former advice columnist for Elle magazine is suing for unspecified monetary damages.
Her defamation claim is based on a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform in October 2022 in which he called her allegations a “complete con job” and “a Hoax and a lie.”
Trump chose not to present a defense at trial, betting that jurors would find Carroll’s case ineffective.
During closing arguments, Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, stated that a 2005 “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump says women let him “grab ’em by the pussy” bolstered the accounts of Carroll and other women who have accused Trump of sexual assault.
“He admitted on video to doing exactly the kinds of things that have brought us here to this courtroom,” Kaplan said.
Carroll’s longtime friends testified that she told them about the attack soon after it happened and that they believed her. Jurors also heard from two other women who claimed Trump sexually assaulted them decades ago in separate incidents. Trump also denies these allegations.
“Three different women, decades apart, but one single pattern of behavior,” Kaplan argued, contending that Trump’s defense was asking jurors to believe the “ridiculous” claim that the other witnesses conspired to lie.
Trump denied raping Carroll in a video deposition played for the jury last week.
“It’s the most ridiculous, disgusting story,” Trump said on camera. “It’s just made up.”
During closing arguments, Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told jurors that the haziness of Carroll’s account made it impossible for Trump to defend himself.
“With no date, month, or year, you can’t present an alibi, and you can’t call witnesses,” Tacopina explained. “What they want is for you to hate him enough to ignore the facts.”
