Jean Carroll's trial against Donald Trump is underway in New York.
The writer accuses the ex-president of raping her.
New York – A nearly 30-year-old rape lawsuit against Donald Trump has been in court in a civil trial in New York since Tuesday.
Author E. Jean Carroll, who has accused former US President Donald Trump of raping her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, began testifying at the civil trial on Wednesday.
"I'm here because Trump raped me," the woman explained.
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US author Jean Carroll (M) comes to the Federal Court in Manhattan.
© Little/AP/dpa
"Trump raped me": Alleged victim testifies against former US president
Carroll took the stand in federal court in Manhattan after chief justice Lewis Kaplan warned Trump's attorney following the former president's recent social media posts attacking Carroll's credibility.
The posts called the lawsuit a fraud, as did evidence of DNA on Carroll's dress, which she said she was wearing when Trump violently groped and raped her in a dressing room at a Manhattan luxury department store in the mid-1990s.
According to reports from
CNN
, the judge advising Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina that the former president could be sued or sanctioned for his Truth Social posts published Wednesday morning.
"We're entering an area here where your client could be faced with a new source of potential liability, and I think you know what I mean," Kaplan said.
26 allegations of abuse against Donald Trump – but only this case is now in court
Prosecutor Carroll claims Trump assaulted her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan around 1996.
"I'm here because Donald Trump raped me and when I wrote about it he said it didn't happen," she said on the witness stand Wednesday.
"He destroyed my reputation." Jean Carroll is not the first woman to report abuse by the ex-president.
But she is the first to make it to court with her lawsuit.
A total of 26 women have accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment.
He denies all allegations.
The American author appeared after the first witness, a former Bergdorf Goodman human resources manager named Cheryl Beall, reports
CBS
.
Beall then described a sixth-floor laundry department that was generally quiet, and the changing rooms were often unattended.
Carroll testified that she bumped into Trump as she exited the department store.
"Hey, you're that advisor," Trump said, according to her.
"Hey, you're the real estate magnate," she replied.
She explained that he asked her for advice on buying a gift.
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Rape in locker room after joking banter with Trump?
Carroll described a joking banter as they walked through the store.
She suggested handbags and then a hat as gifts.
"I was absolutely mesmerized by what I could only imagine as a scene that would make a great story."
The former Saturday Night Live writer recalled Trump being "funny," according to
CBS
.
He suggested they look at some lingerie, picked one up and asked her to try it on.
She said she suggested Trump wear it.
"I could just picture Donald Trump pulling those underwear over his pants," she said.
Then Trump suggested they go to a dressing room, which they did.
"He immediately closed the door and pushed me against the wall," Carroll testified, adding that her head hit the wall.
In the next few moments, Trump pulled down her pantyhose and entered her with his hand and genitals.
Trump denies allegations: trial in the absence of the ex-president
In this case, too, the former US President claims that nothing happened between him and the now 79-year-old US writer.
Trump, who is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has not appeared in the courtroom since jury selection began Tuesday.
It is unclear whether he will be present on one of the trial days.
Carroll is expected to be questioned further by her own team Thursday morning before Trump's lawyers get a chance to cross-examine her.
List of rubrics: © Little/AP/dpa
