Donald Trump “is a witness against himself,” a lawyer representing writer E Jean Carroll said during closing arguments in the civil rape trial on Monday.
Referencing the Access Hollywood tape, attorney Roberta Kaplan said, “He grabbed her, using his words, ‘by the p****.’”
“He didn’t even bother to show up in person,” Ms Kaplan said about Mr Trump choosing not to attend the trial.
“In a very real sense, Trump is a witness against himself,” the attorney said about Mr Trump’s video deposition.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump missed his last chance to testify in the trial.
The former president had been given until 5pm ET on Sunday by US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan to file a request to testify in the case.
The deadline came and went without Mr Trump taking up the opportunity.
Closing arguments began in Manhattan on Monday ahead of the jury deciding whether or not they will find Mr Trump did rape Ms Carroll in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s – and whether or not they find Mr Trump then defamed Ms Carroll in the aftermath.
The jury is set to receive the case on Tuesday.
Key points
- Jury to receive case tomorrow
- Carroll lawyer calls Access Hollywood tape Trump’s ‘confession’
- ‘Mr Tacopina criticizes Ms Carroll’s testimony, but she showed up’
- Carroll lawyer blasts Trump for avoiding trial
- Tacopina claims Carroll ‘brought a case for money and victimized real rape victims’
Six memorable moments from E Jean Carroll’s testimony during Trump rape trial
08:00 , Bevan Hurley and Gustaf Kilander
E Jean Carroll withstood a barrage of intensely personal questions and inflammatory accusations during more than 13 hours on the witness stand in her civil battery and defamation trial against former president Donald Trump.
The former Elle advice columnist was quizzed about years of emails, text messages, deposition statements, articles and social media posts by Mr Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina as he tried to sow doubt in the minds of the nine jurors who will determine whether she was raped by Mr Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan in 1996.
Ms Carroll, 79, remained stoic for most of her marathon testimony. She was at times funny, defiant, and emotional as she was forced to recall the traumatic alleged sexual assault that happened nearly three decades earlier.
Entering the witness box on day two of the trial on Wednesday 26 April, she began by saying: “I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it he said it didn’t happen. He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try to get my life back.”
Ms Carroll is suing the former president in civil court for defamation and battery after he claimed she was a “con job”. Mr Trump, 76, has strongly denied the encounter ever took place.
Read more:
Six memorable moments from E Jean Carroll’s testimony during Trump rape trial
Who is Natasha Stoynoff? The journalist whose testimony could help bring down Trump
07:00 , Bevan Hurley and Gustaf Kilander
People magazine sent correspondent Natasha Stoynoff to Mar-a-Lago in late 2005 to write a wedding anniversary story about Donald Trump, who had then recently married Melania Knauss.
Almost two decades later, her experience of the future president allegedly “forcing his tongue” down her throat could prove essential testimony in the E Jean Carroll civil rape trial that began on 25 April in a federal court in New York City. Closing arguments began on Monday 8 May.
Ms Stoynoff took the stand at the Manhattan courthouse on 3 May.
Before joining People magazine, Ms Stoynoff was a reporter and photographer at The Toronto Star, a columnist at The Toronto Sun, and a freelancer for Time Magazine. She then worked for People magazine for almost 20 years. She now writes books and screenplays, according to her bio on Goodreads.
The Trump legal team failed to stop the inclusion of Ms Stoynoff’s testimony in the trial.
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