Donald Trump trial: Carroll says Trump critic George Conway encouraged lawsuit

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The author who sued former President Donald Trump for defamation after he denied her rape allegation was inspired to sue, in part, by one of the former president’s most outspoken opponents, writer E. Jean Carroll testified on Monday.

Carroll — who sued Trump, alleging he raped her in the mid-1990s and later defamed her when she came forward in 2019 — told jurors Monday that she took up legal action within days after encouragement from George Conway, the ex-husband of former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway and a frequent critic of the former president.

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Trump Columnist Lawsuit
Attorney Joe Tacopina, a lawyer representing former President Donald Trump, arrives to federal court, Monday, May 1, 2023, in New York.

Her admission was previously documented in a deposition but marked the first time she opened up about her discussions with Conway since Trump attorney Joe Tacopina began cross-examination last week.

Tacopina played a part of Carroll’s taped deposition from October in which she recalled her response of “no, no, no” when people asked her in 2019 if she planned to sue Trump. It wasn’t until she spoke to Conway, “who knew the ins and outs,” that she decided to consider suing Trump, Carroll testified.

“Before that, you had no intention of suing Donald Trump, as we just heard,” Tacopina said. Carroll contended that was correct, saying after speaking with Conway, she met with a lawyer he recommended and that she was aware at the time of Conway’s anti-Trump disposition.

The testimony took place on the same day the judge presiding over the trial, Lewis A. Kaplan, denied a motion by Trump’s counsel to declare a mistrial in the civil sexual assault and defamation lawsuit.

Tacopina filed a letter early Monday arguing Kaplan made “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings” against Trump.

Tacopina asked Kaplan to dismiss the lawsuit or, as a different option, “allow the Defendant’s counsel to have greater latitude to cross-examine Plaintiff and her witnesses.”

Several of Kaplan’s objections came up when Tacopina questioned her last week about why she did not scream when she was allegedly raped in a Bergdorf Goodman department store by Trump and expressing doubt about Carroll’s account that the store was relatively empty during the time of her claimed encounter.

Carroll has alleged the rape happened in either 1995 or 1996, a point Tacopina has also harped as she contends she can’t remember the exact date.

The present civil trial stems from Carroll’s second defamation suit she filed in 2022 after New York passed a law that removed for one year the statute of limitations for adults who allege they were sexually assaulted. A previous lawsuit filed by Carroll is still pending.

Before a noon lunch break, Tacopina continued grilling Carroll about matters such as why she never sued former CBS head Les Moonves despite her claims that he assaulted her.

“He called you a liar,” Tacopina said, according to a recapitulated quote from a local reporter.

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“He just denied it,” Carroll responded from the stand, adding, “He didn’t grind my face into the mud like Donald Trump did.”

Kaplan soon interjected, saying Tacopina’s line of questioning “sounds repetitious.”

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