Trump's attorneys will not offer defense in trial of E. Jean Carroll lawsuit

In the week since the start of the trial of a lawsuit brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll in November 2022 against former President Donald Trump, the jury has heard testimony that Carroll suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome stemming from his alleged rape of her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City in 1996.

Two other women testified in the trial that Trump had assaulted them, and the former president’s attorneys announced on May 3 that they will not be calling any witnesses or offering a defense in the case. 

On Tuesday, Jessica Leeds took the stand to testify about an assault she alleges happened during a plane flight in 1979. She said that she was moved to first class from coach and seated next to Trump. 

The New York Daily News reported that Leeds told the jury: “[Trump] was grabbing my breasts … It’s like he had 40 zillion hands, and it was a tussling match between the two of us. And it was when he started putting his hand up my skirt that that kind of gave me a jolt of strength, and I managed to wiggle out of the seat, and I went storming back to my seat in the coach.”

Leeds told the jury, “In the late seventies, women didn’t complain about sexual assault in the workplace.” 

When Carroll went public with her allegation in 2019, Trump claimed that she was “totally lying,” telling The Hill at the time, “She’s not my type.” He’s similarly dismissed claims by Leeds, saying during a 2016 rally, “Believe me, she would not be my first choice.”

The former Elle magazine columnist also alleges that Trump defamed her in 2022 when called her rape allegations a “Hoax and a lie” in a post on his Truth Social platform. The twice-impeached former president said, “And while I’m not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type!”

The idea that Trump would never have raped someone because he doesn’t find them attractive has been disproven in multiple studies. 

On the “Rape Myths” page of its Sexual Misconduct Response & Prevention website section, for example, the University of Richmond notes that rape and sexual assault have nothing to do with attraction: “Rape and sexual assault are about control and domination.” 

On Wednesday, clinical psychologist Leslie Lebowitz, who had interviewed Carroll, told the jury that she has “symptoms that fit into the rubric of PTSD.” 

Lebowitz said: “Following her encounter with Mr. Trump, she [Carroll] began to shut down in the presence of eligible men. … She’s avoiding anything that reminds her of the threat. … For most of the years she simply blamed herself for the assault. She thought she had done something stupid.”

On Tuesday, Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina told presiding Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that the former president would not be testifying and that his defense would not be calling any expert witnesses. The next day, Tacopina said his client would not mount a defense in the case. 

Natasha Stoynoff, a former writer for People magazine, testified on Wednesday that Trump kissed her without her consent while she was at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on assignment. According to ABC News, Stoynoff told the jury: “He has my hands on my shoulders, and he pushes me against the wall and starts kissing me. … He came toward me again, and I tried to shove him again. … He was kissing me, and he was against me, holding my shoulder back. … I was just flustered and shocked. No words came out of me.” 

During her testimony on April 27, Carroll was grilled by Tacopina about why she didn’t report the assault at the time and why she didn’t scream during the attack in the dressing room.

“I’m not a screamer. … I was too much in panic to scream,” Carroll said on the stand, according to CNN. “You can’t beat up on me for not screaming. … Women who don’t come forward, one of the reasons they don’t come forward is they are asked why they didn’t scream. Some women scream, some women don’t. It keeps women silent.”

She added: “I’m telling you, he raped me whether I screamed or not. I don’t need an excuse for not screaming.”

Carroll is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for her pain and suffering stemming from the alleged attack and for defamation of character by Trump.

On Thursday, Trump told reporters on a golf course in Ireland that he would probably attend the trial and said: “It’s a disgrace that it’s allowed to happen. It’s false accusations against a rich guy, or in my case, against a famous, rich and political person that’s leading the polls by 40 points.” He called the judge extremely hostile and said, “I’m going to go back and I’m going to confront this woman. This woman is a disgrace, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen in our country.” 

Trump is currently embroiled in a slew of other legal issues, including recent charges on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to alleged “hush money” payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels and an investigation in Georgia by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over allegations that he attempted to violate election laws and interfere in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump is also under criminal investigation by special counsel Jack Smith over his interference with the legal transfer of power after the 2020 election and his handling of classified records after leaving office.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.