DOONBEG (Ireland)/NEW YORK: Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will “probably” attend an ongoing civil trial in New York in which he is accused of rape and defamation, repeating his denials of the allegations during a visit to his Irish golf resort.
Writer E. Jean Carroll, 79, has testified that Trump, 76, raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, and then tarred her reputation and career by lying about it online.
Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, has so far not attended the trial, which began last week in federal court in Manhattan. His legal team told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan that Trump will not be testifying in person and they will not be calling any witnesses.
“I will probably attend and I think it’s a disgrace that it’s allowed to happen, false accusations against a rich guy, or in my case against a famous, rich and political person,“ Trump told reporters while he played golf at the Doonbeg resort in southwest Ireland.
“I have to go back for a woman that made a false accusation about me, and I have a judge who is extremely hostile,“ Trump added.
The trial is expected to extend into next week.
Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jurors on Thursday were expected to continue watching a video deposition of Trump when the trial resumes at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).
In a brief portion played on Wednesday, Trump denied Carroll’s accusation and accused Carroll of making up the story to drive sales of a 2019 memoir in which she made her claims public.
Carroll said during three days of testimony and cross-examination that Trump slammed her against the wall in either 1995 or 1996, put his fingers into her vagina and then inserted his penis. - Reuters
