The jury was presented with a video recording of former President Donald Trump disparaging a woman who accused him of rape, referring to her as a “nut job” and “mentally sick.” The recording was played during the ongoing federal trial for her lawsuit.
A transcript of Trump’s comments about the accuser, E. Jean Carroll, had previously surfaced in court documents. However, the in court playback of the deposition enabled jurors to hear Trump’s own voice discussing the case. Additional segments of the recording were played in court on Wednesday.
In the recording, Trump also defended his prior statement that Carroll was “not my type” and referred to his infamous remarks in a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording as “locker room talk.”
Carroll, a 79-year-old writer, claims that Trump assaulted her in a high-end New York department store dressing room in spring 1996. She alleges that they bumped into each other, engaged in playful conversation about trying on lingerie, and entered a fitting room jokingly before Trump abruptly turned violent.
Carroll did not go public with her accusations or seek legal action until 2019. However, two of her friends testified that she had confided in them about the incident shortly after it took place.
One of those friends, former TV news anchor Carol Martin, said on the witness stand Thursday, “I believed it then, and I believe it today.”
Trump, 76, denies ever having met Carroll, aside from a brief interaction at a 1987 social event. In his October deposition, Trump stated, “I think she’s sick, mentally sick. She said that I did something to her that never took place. There was no anything. I know nothing about this nut job.”
Trump has not attended the trial, and his attorneys have indicated he will not testify or present any witnesses in his defense.
While on a golf trip to Ireland, Trump told reporters on Thursday that he would “probably attend” the trial, which is expected to conclude next week. His legal team maintains that there are no plans for him to do so.
Trump, who initially irritated trial Judge Lewis Kaplan with his social media posts criticizing the case, continued to label the trial a politically motivated “scam” and described Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee, as an “extremely hostile” and “rough judge” who “doesn’t like me very much.”
