In New York, a jury has delivered a verdict in a civil lawsuit filed by well-known American journalist Elizabeth Jean Carroll against Donald Trump. As FACTS has already reported, an Elle columnist claimed that in 1996, Trump raped her in the lingerie department of Bergdorf Goodman department store.
The trial lasted ten days. The plaintiff herself spoke at it, as well as several witnesses invited by her lawyers. Mostly they were Carroll’s girlfriends. It was to them that she told then about what had happened to her.
Trump was not in court for a minute. Lawyer Joe Tacopina took the rap for him. He called the accusations made by Carroll “incredible artistic invention.”
The jurors - three women and nine men - deliberated for three hours. They concluded that Trump was guilty of sexually harassing Carroll, but not of raping her. In addition, they found the defendant guilty of libel because he claimed not to know the plaintiff. The court ordered Trump to pay Carroll $ 5 million in compensation.
This is the first time in history that a former US president has been found legally responsible for sexual assault.
In vain Tacopina tried to humiliate the plaintiff. During the cross-examination, which lasted several hours, Trump’s lawyer sought to question every detail of her story.
So he repeatedly asked Carroll why she did not scream when, according to her, Trump attacked her in a department store.
“I’m not one of the noisy ones” the journalist replied. But Takopina did not lag behind. At some point, Carroll, with tears in her eyes, sharply answered him: “I tell you: he raped me, whether I screamed or not! I can’t believe that in 2023 women can still ask this question.”
Then she said that she belonged to the “silent generation.” “Women my age were taught to keep quiet about such things,” Carroll added.
“I am here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I told about it, he lied and said that it did not happen. Even today, sitting in front of you, I remember what I felt then, - said the journalist.
Tacopina eventually said that Carroll borrowed the whole rape story from one episode of the popular series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. It was filmed in 2012. This episode features a rape investigation in the lingerie section of Bergdorf Goodman department store.
Carroll admitted that she was attacked at the same location and that the episode was televised before she indicted Trump in 2019. “It’s just a coincidence” – said the journalist.
Trump’s lawyer commented on her words with a rhetorical question: “What is the probability of such a coincidence?”
On Monday, May 8, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, made her closing remarks. She emphasized that Donald Trump has an established modus operandi - a way of acting.
Kaplan drew jurors’ attention to similarities in the stories of other women who accused Trump of sexual harassment. First flirting in a public place, followed by a surprise attack.
The court was shown a video recording of the defendant’s testimony. When asked by Kaplan, Trump was rude. He didn’t try to make excuses. When the former president was asked to comment on his own controversial statement that he loves to grab women by the private parts and has always gotten away with it, Trump replied: “Historically, stars have always been that way… If you look at the last million years, that’s pretty much how it has been. Not always, but in a large number of cases it was. Unfortunately, or fortunately.
Meanwhile, another trial against Donald Trump continues. The 45th President of the United States is accused of trying to annul the results of the 2020 presidential election and storming the Capitol. The other day, the main witness in the case, former US Vice President Mike Pence, testified before a federal jury in Washington.
Source: Fakty
I am currently working as a news website author at Daily News Hack. I mostly cover trending news and have been doing so for quite some time now. I have always had a keen interest in current affairs and the world around me, which is what led me to my current job.
