Donald Trump to not testify in New York rape, defamation trial | World news
Former US President Donald Trump will not testify in a civil trial to challenge claims that author E. Jean Carroll said he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s and later defamed her, after letting Sunday’s deadline pass. without asking the court to appear.
Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina told the judge on Wednesday that Trump had waived his right to testify in Manhattan federal court and did not present a defense in the case, hoping jurors would find that Carroll had failed to make a convincing case.
In response to a Reuters request for comment, Tacopina said in a statement what Trump’s legal team had already told the court on Wednesday, that the former president would not testify in the case.
After the jury left for the day on Thursday, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan asked Tacopina to tell Trump that he had until Sunday at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) to tell the court whether he intended to testify.
Kaplan has scheduled closing arguments from both sides for Monday. Carroll, 79, filed her lawsuit last year against Trump, 76, alleging he sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996, and then defamed her by denying that it happened. The former Elle magazine consultant is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021 and is currently the front-runner for the US presidential nomination in 2024, has said that Carroll made the accusation to drive sales of his 2019 memo.
In a video message played for the jury on Wednesday, Trump denied the rape of Carroll.
“It’s the most ridiculous, disgusting story,” Trump said in the video, leaning over a conference table as Carroll’s lawyers presented him with documents. “You just do it.”
