NEW YORK, (AFP) – Former United States (US) president Donald Trump (AP pic, below) testified on Wednesday in a defamation case pitting him against a prominent former American columnist who says he raped her in the 1990s.
E Jean Carroll, 78, alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store.
Last week, a New York federal court judge rejected a motion by Trump, who has denied the accusation, to further delay his deposition.
The New York law firm representing Carroll said: “We’re pleased that on behalf of our client… we were able to take Donald Trump’s deposition today.”
The firm, Kaplan Hecker & Fink, said it was “not able to comment further.”
In ruling on the deposition last week, Judge Lewis Kaplan said that Carroll’s and Trump’s depositions should be held on October 14 and 19, respectively.
Carroll on Tuesday shared a photo of her lawyer Roberta Kaplan on Twitter captioned “Carroll versus Trump,” and wished Kaplan “GOOD LUCK FOR TOMORROW.” She later deleted the tweet.
Kaplan, who is unrelated to the case’s judge, is a co-founder of the Time’s Up movement that provides legal aid to victims of sexual assault.
Trump denied the accusation, saying Carroll was “not my type” and that she was “totally lying,” which prompted the defamation suit.
The case has been delayed by procedural battles, including whether Trump should be represented by the US government since he was president at the time he made the statements.
According to several media outlets on Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers have always claimed their client was protected by his executive immunity, particularly for allegedly defamatory statements he made during his term.
