The New York Times reports that #Metoo met Donald Trump in court

Defaming Donald J. Kaplan in a New Jersey Appellate Circuit Court for Sexual Abuse of a White House Candidate

Now a jury must resolve what the judge in the case, Lewis A. Kaplan of the Federal District Court in Manhattan, described in an earlier ruling as “a ‘he said, she said’ case.” Ms. Carroll says she turned after the assault because she knew her two friends would corroborate her story. Her depiction of Mr. Trump may also be bolstered by the “Access Hollywood” tape, which the judge has allowed as evidence along with the testimony of two women who have accused Mr. Trump of nonconsensual sex acts, allegations that Mr. Trump has denied.

“As a result of the pain and suffering caused by Trump’s sexual assault, Carroll has not been able to sustain a romantic relationship since the day Trump raped her,” Carroll’s suit claims, adding that she has been unable to have sexual or romantic relationships with men since that day.

Trump’s lawyers are expected to argue that Carroll’s nearly 30-year old claims cannot be proved, and that Carroll was motivated by the potential for book sales and publicity.

The second suit was filed in November 2022, under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which opened a one-year window for people alleging sexual assault to bring civil claims older than would otherwise be allowable under the statute of limitations. Like the first suit, the second one contains a defamation claim. Because Trump was no longer president at the time the claim was filed, it has proceeded quickly to trial.

The excerpts from the “Access Hollywood” video may be shown to the jury by the Carroll team.

Tacopina is not saying whether Trump will take the stand in his defense; if he does not, then the defense team has only one witness, Dr. Edgar Nace, a psychiatrist.

The 1996 Sexual Misdeeds of a New York City ‘Tacopina’: A Call to the Attorney General or Donald J. Kaplan

A campaign accusing Mr. Trump of sexual misdeeds aided in drawing attention to the issue. Ms. Carroll credits that movement with empowering her own decision to step forward. In the civil complaint, she recounts watching the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s accusers, and then many others, tell their stories of harassment and rape. She saw how women had changed the public conversation by saying ‘Me Too’ and demanding accountability.

There is no video or forensic evidence to support Carroll’s rape claim, and Carroll is not even certain whether the assault took place in 1995 or 1996. But Crowley told jurors this is not a “he-said, she-said” case, because Carroll’s allegations will be supported by the testimony of two friends of Carroll’s whom she told shortly after the alleged assault, with key details being backed up by two witnesses who worked at Bergdorf Goodman’s.

Security reasons mean that the jury in the case is anonymous. The seven men and three women will only be known by the numbers assigned to them, and will not be seen again until they leave by car at undisclosed locations.

Most of Tuesday morning was taken up by jury selection. But even before prospective jurors were questioned, New York federal district court Judge Lewis Kaplan bluntly admonished both legal teams to advise their clients and witnesses to avoid making statements that “are likely to incite violence or civil unrest,” and warned against “making comments or engaging in conduct that has the potential to jeopardize the safety or wellbeing of any individuals or the rule of law, particularly as it applies to proceedings in this courtroom.”

At the time it was released, Trump dismissed the tape as “locker room talk,” And Trump attorney Tacopina told jurors that’s what it was: “it’s not an admission of anything certainly,” he said.

Crowley kept a calm demeanor as she lay out her claims, but at times it appeared that tacopina was really angry, with his hands gripping the lectern and his voice rising.

The writer took the witness stand saying that Donald Trump raped her in a department store fitting room in 1996.

I am here because Donald Trump said it didn’t happen when I wrote about it. He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back,” she testified.

Trump denies E. Jean Carroll’s allegations. He hasn’t attended the trial thus far, but his lawyers said Tuesday it’s still possible he could decide to testify.

Carroll, 79, has said she crossed paths with Trump at the revolving door to Bergdorf Goodman on an unspecified Thursday evening in spring 1996. At the time, she was writing a long-running advice column in Elle magazine. Trump was a real estate magnate and social figure in New York.

She has said he asked her advice about selecting a gift for a woman, and she went along, thinking the experience would be funny. They had a conversation about who should try on a bodysuit and went to the dressing room at the lingerie department.

She alleges that Trump slammed her against the wall, pulled down her tights and raped her. She said she fled after she kneed him off her.

The judge told Trump’s lawyers that their client was trying to speak to his quote-unquote public, but he was more troubling because the jury would be talking about something that has no business being spoken about. He called Trump’s post “a public statement that, on the face of it, seems entirely inappropriate.”

Trump attorney Joe Tacopina noted that jurors are told not to follow any news or online commentary about the case. But he said he would ask Trump “to refrain from any further posts about this case.”

The trial takes place just weeks after Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges of paying a porn actor to stay quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with him.