From left: E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump.Photo: Getty Images (2)
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan this week ruled that Trumpmust answer questions under oathas part of the lawsuit, with the deposition now scheduled for Oct. 19, the Associated Press reports.
In a statement sent to PEOPLE, Carroll’s counsel Roberta Kaplan said, “We are pleased that Judge Kaplan agreed with our position not to stay discovery in this case. We look forward to filing our case under the Adult Survivors Act and moving forward to trial with all dispatch.”
Carroll, now 78, went public with her account of assault in 2019, after which Trump said inan interview: “No. 1: She’s not my type” and, further, that he had “never met this person in my life.” (The two have been photographed together, though Trump said that was an incidental moment.)
Trump, 76, also tweeted at the time that Carroll was “totally lying” about the rape, and claimed she made up the allegation in order to help sell her memoir.
While Trump’s legal team had attempted to delay his deposition in the case, Judge Kaplan noted in a ruling that both Carroll and Trump are “already of advanced age.”
“The defendant should not be permitted to run the clock out on [Carroll’s] attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong,” Kaplan said in therulingordering Trump to sit for a deposition.
The AP reports that Carroll is slated to be deposed in the case Friday.
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CNN reported that Carroll’s attorneys said their client plans to allege battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress in the suit, which they said willbe filed in Novemberwhen the new law takes effect.
Carroll’s attorneys had earliersought a DNA sampleto compare with a dress Carroll says she wore during the alleged rape.
The defamation suit is one of many legal issues facing the former president, who is currently being investigated at the federal and state level and in both criminal and civil cases for a variety of allegations linked to presidential records, the 2020 election and the Trump Organization.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
source: people.com
