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Ex-President Donald Trump
Photo Credit: zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx / zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx / AP
Former US President Donald Trump made a mistake when asked about rape allegations by author E. Jean Carroll.
When Trump was shown a photo from the 1990s, he mistook the pictured Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples, a court document shows.
In Trump's own words, Carroll is not his "type" at all.
'This is Marla, yes.
This is my wife," Trump said, according to a released transcript of the interview by Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan last October.
Trump's attorney Alina Habba immediately intervened: "No, that's Carroll."
Trump was married to actress Maples from 1993 to 1999.
Trump's daughter Tiffany is from this marriage.
The mix-up can now play into Carroll's cards
Carroll, now 79, publicly accused then-President Trump in 2019 of raping her in a dressing room in the New York luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s.
Trump denied the allegations, saying the former Elle magazine columnist was "totally lying."
He added, "She's not my type."
Carroll sued Trump for defamation.
In connection with that lawsuit, Trump was questioned under oath by attorney Kaplan last October at his luxury home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
The transcript of the questioning has now been made public by the competent New York court.
In November, Carroll also sued Trump for the alleged rape itself, which is actually statute-barred.
This was made possible by a new law in the state of New York, according to which alleged rape victims can sue alleged perpetrators for damages regardless of the statute of limitations.
When questioned by Carroll's attorney last October, Trump repeated several times that the columnist was not his "type."
But the fact that he mistook her for his ex-wife Maples could be used by Carroll's attorney to question that defense strategy.
czl/AFP
