Trump is absent from the first session of the trial against him for rape

He Civil trial for rape and defamation against former US President Donald Trump started this Tuesday in New York with the selection of the jury, local media and Efe report. Trump, who did not attend the first session of the trial, was charged with rape and defamation writer and journalist E. Jean Carroll, who nevertheless appeared at the hearing. Trump’s lawyers argued to justify his absence the “logistical and financial burden” his relocation would cause the city.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who offered Trump the chance to skip the hearings, decided to keep the jury anonymous, including the lawyers parties, considering the possibility of suffering some kind of harassment or attack by followers of the former president.

The process is carried out civilly, therefore the former president is not threatened with a possible prison sentence, but could be forced to pay significant damages if found guilty. Additionally, it would be the first time Trump has faced legal consequences for an alleged sexual assault or abuse. In 2019, while Trump was still president, Carroll denounced that 25 years ago, when he was a powerful businessman, he cornered her in the dressing room of a department store in New York and raped her, facts that she told two friends — who were called to testify in case — but that he did not report to the police.

After hearing the complaint, Trump disqualified her, saying she wasn’t his “type”that it was all “a joke and a lie” and that what she was asking for was free fame to promote the book, leading to a second libel suit by Carroll.

The success of “Letters to Trump”

Letters to Trumpa book that collects the private correspondence of the former president of the United States with persons such as Diana of Wales, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Nixon and Kim Jong-un It went on sale this Tuesday, and despite its high price, it was placed on Amazon’s list of best-selling products.

The official retail price is $99, although it can be purchased on that platform for $95.85, unless the interested party wants it signed by a former Republican president and current candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. With Trump’s signature, the volume price rises to $399.

The book includes 150 letters, photos of the letter writers and Trump’s comments on each one.

The list of signatories to these letters to Trump includes “the biggest names in history,” including members of the royal family, politicians, athletes, entertainers and business people, according to the editorial.

Since last month, various media outlets have been publishing previews of some of Trump’s self-selected letters, such as one sent to him by popular TV host Oprah Winfrey in which she reflects on what would have happened if the two had matched as candidates.

The letter is a response to the words Trump wrote in his book The America we deserve (2000) stating that Winfrey would be their first choice for vice president.

Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, three US presidents and the wife of the third, Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the 2016 election, North Korean President Kim Jong-un, golfer Arnold Palmer, singer Liza Minnelli and Diana Princess of Wales have their place in the book. In some of the promotional interviews, Trump noted that readers will have the opportunity to see “a very fascinating life.”