This is a detail that attorneys for E. John Carroll. Donald Trump, who was accused of rape by this ex-Elle magazine column, mistook her for his ex-wife Marla Maples in a photo, according to a court document from testimony in New York in October. Since the beginning of the affair, the former US President has denied and repeatedly asserted that the journalist was “not (his) type”.
Donald Trump, 76, is scheduled to appear in a New York court on April 10, 2023 in a defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, 79, who accuses him of raping her in 1995 or in a dressing room at a New York department store in 1996.
A double civil trial for alleged defamation and rape has led Ms. Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, against Donald Trump, 76, billionaire businessman and Republican president in 2017, in federal courts in Manhattan since 2019, then 2022 to 2021.
“It’s Marla, it’s my wife”
The two submitted their affidavits last October. During his Oct. 19 testimony via video link — released this week — Donald Trump reiterated his line of defense: “I will say this with the utmost respect: First, she’s not my type; then it never happened.”
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But when he was shown a photo of himself with E. Jean Carroll at a reception in the 1990s, he replied, “This is Marla, this is my wife,” before his own attorney, Alina Habba, corrected him. Donald Trump was married to actress Marla Maples, 59, from 1993 to 1999 and met his current wife, Melania, in 1998.
New law in New York
In the defamation lawsuit, E. Jean Carroll sued Trump in November 2019. She alleges that he defamed her because he called her rape allegations an “outright lie” in June of that year. The White House tenant’s attorneys claimed he was protected by his immunity as head of state in 2019.
As for the rape allegations, E. Jean Carroll was unable to file a complaint in 2019 because the alleged facts were established. However, on November 24, 2022, a New York state law (“Adult Survivors Act”) went into effect that allows victims of sexual assault to resume their civil suit for one year.
The journalist therefore filed a new complaint in New York in November for “defamation”, but also “act” and “insult” and applied for a civil trial for damages, which is scheduled to take place on April 10th.