Trump's rape case: Jury hears opening arguments in civil trial

A New York jury heard arguments from Donald Trump's attorney on Tuesday that the advice columnist E Jean Carroll and other women planned to accuse the former president of rape because they "hate" him for winning the 2016 election.

The first day of a civil trial in a Manhattan federal court also heard that Carroll is suing Trump for battery and defamation "to clear her name, to pursue justice, and to get her life back" after the former president allegedly raped her in a New York department store in 1996 and later denied it.

However, Trump's attorney Joseph Tacopina told the jury of three women and six men that Carroll brought the action for political reasons, to sell a book, and to garner media attention, reported The Guardian.

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Details of Trump rape civil trial

Tacopina said that the rape accusation was made upby Carroll and two other women who are expected to testify that she told them about the assault immediatelyafterwards.

“They schemed to hurt Donald Trump politically,” he said.

Tacopina told the jury that Carroll initially accused then-president Trump of rape following a meeting with George Conway, a prominent opponent who was married to Kellyanne Conway, one of the president's closest advisers in the White House. The judge upheld a challenge to Carroll's claim made by his attorneys. When Carroll provides testimony, it's unclear if Tacopina will bring it up again.

Carroll claims that in 1996, after they ran into each other and he asked for help in choosing a gift for a friend, Trump assaulted her in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York.

Shawn Crowley, Carroll's attorney, told the jury that Trump forced Carroll into a changing room before attacking her. According to the attorney, Trump slammed Carroll's head against the wall, held her arms behind her back, pulled her tights down, and then pushed his fingers into her vagina.

Crowley claimed that Carroll attempted to knee Trump off and kicked him, but that Trump overpoweredher.

“He removed his hand and forced his penis inside her,” the lawyer told the jury.

Crowley addressed the two issues she predicted would be foremost in the jurors' minds. Carroll and Trump entered the dressing room for what reason? And why did she not call the police right away to report the alleged rape?

The attorney claimed that when Carroll was asked to try on a see-through bodysuit by Trump, she threw the suggestion back at him and told him that since it was his colour, he should be the one wearing it. Trump then brought Carroll to the changing room while holding her arm.

“To her, the situation was harmless and funny,” said Crowley. “The truth is she didn’t see Trump as a threat.”

Crowley claimed that following the incident, Carroll did inform two friends. One suggested that she contact the police. The other suggested keeping silent because Trump was an influential person. Carroll, according to Crowley, was "filled with fear and shame" that prevented her from speaking for a long time.

Carroll was subjected to a barrage of "vicious attacks" by the president when she finally made the decision to speak out following Trump's election in 2016 and the rise of the #MeToo movement.

Tacopina argued before the jury that it was impossible that nobody in a major department store noticed Carroll and Trump together and that no employees were present in the vicinity of the alleged assault.

Carroll claimed that the door was unlocked despite Bergdorf Goodman's customary practice of keeping changing rooms shut until a customer requested entry.

Carroll's explanation for why she didn't call the police was contested by Tacopina.

“E Jean Carroll once called the police on teenagers who vandalised her mailbox but not when she was violently raped,” he told the jury.

The trial continues.

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