A writer has claimed that former President Donald Trump raped her in a women’s changing room at a department shop in the 1990s, and Trump plans to summon Anderson Cooper as a witness in the future civil trial.
Trump’s and E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers released their witness lists on Thursday. According to reports, Cooper is on the list as a witness for the defense.
Analysts say Trump will most likely examine any financial ties or business arrangements she might have made since her rape allegation in 2019.
A person familiar with Trump’s legal plan reportedly said that Trump is keen on highlighting a televised segment in which Carroll remarked to Cooper, “I believe most people think of rape as being sexy.” In her statement, she mentioned that it is often a popular fantasy.
After Trump’s accusations that Carroll exaggerated the allegation to boost book sales, the latter filed a defamation suit against Carroll.
According to the New York Post, Carroll has also filed a sexual battery lawsuit against Trump based on the New York Adult Survivors Act, which was implemented in 2022 to enable claimed victims of abuse to pursue claims in instances that would otherwise have lapsed because of the statute of limitations.
According to ABC News, Trump’s lawyer has claimed his client would produce a DNA sample in connection with the litigation, but under a particular set of circumstances.
A DNA analysis of semen stains discovered on a dress Carroll claims she was wearing on the day of the assault, which she says happened in either 1995 or 1996, is missing pages, according to attorney Joseph Tacopina, and Carroll’s side must first provide those pages.
The attorney for Carroll, Roberta Kaplan, referred to the request as a ridiculous delay strategy to sway the jury. Kaplan said, “He must now go before a jury.”
Tacopina claims Carroll’s attorneys have neglected to disclose the pages of the DNA report that are absent because she knows Trump’s semen is not on the garment and the purported rape never happened, DNA evidence, according to Kaplan, was not present.
In a deposition taken in October, Trump flatly denied that the purported assault had occurred. Trump said he has no idea who this “nut job” is. “I believe she’s crazy, psychologically sick.”
In all likelihood, the trial will start in April.
