Trump calls rape accusation ‘ridiculous’

In a civil lawsuit against an American author, former US President Donald Trump described her rape allegations as “ridiculous” and “fabricated”.

This is evident from a videotaped statement by Trump last October, who played the defense of the now 79-year-old American author E. Jean Carroll in court on Wednesday (local time), US media reported. Trump himself has so far not appeared in person, so his statements in the video would carry all the more weight. Carroll accuses him of raping her in a luxury New York department store in the mid-1990s.

The broker, who was not yet active as a politician at the time, rejects the allegations. His attorney also stated in court Wednesday that he would not invite witnesses who could exonerate Trump, as reported by NBC News and others. NBC News quoted his attorney Joe Tacopina as saying the reason is because an expert originally intended to be the only witness besides Trump himself was unable to testify for health reasons. Further video excerpts from Trump’s statements should be played before the jury on Thursday, the broadcaster further reported.

Earlier this week, the responsible judge Lewis Kaplan had refused to abort the proceedings. According to US media reports, Trump’s lawyers had asked on Monday for the trial to be terminated unsuccessfully because the court had repeatedly made “unfair and harmful decisions” during the trial. The criminal charges are time-barred, but under civil law, Carroll was free to sue.

The 76-year-old is being investigated for a number of possible crimes. He himself describes the actions of law enforcement agencies against him as politically motivated: Trump wants to run again as a Republican presidential candidate in the 2024 elections. (aeg/sda/dpa)