E. Jean Carroll gives Trump a face slap--in court.
While Trump's lawyers inadvertently assist.
What was once a blip on the radar screen of Trump’s legal woes now looks more like a plane ready to come in for a pin-point landing.
For a long time, the Carroll case seemed too far off in the distance to think of as a real threat to Trump, legally. But for the last three days, Carroll’s lawyers and Carroll herself have outclassed and -maneuvered Trump’s team at every turn.
Carroll has comported herself credibly on the witness stand, even surviving a bullying cross-examination by Joe Tacopina, Trump’s lead lawyer who began their exchange by calling Carroll a “liar” who’s just wanting to make money by going up against Trump.
In testimony that’s neither backed down from her assertion Trump raped her nor glossed over her own behavior in the event, Carroll testified to the following:
* She encountered Trump as she was leaving the Bergdorf Goodman department store and he was entering.
* Although she cannot produce any direct evidence, she believes it took place in the spring of 1996.
* A casual acquaintance, Trump asked her help to find a present for a female friend. Carroll, a writer, thought it’d be fun and something to write about. She agreed.
* They eventually made their way up to the store’s lingerie department where Carroll teasingly suggested Trump himself try on a possible purchase to see if it would work for the intended recipient.
* She followed him into the dressing room, believing it was all in good fun and could be used as fodder for an intended feature story.
* Once they were in, Trump locked the door, forced his mouth on hers, pulled down her leggings and raped her.
* She fought back, but did not scream.
*She escaped by kneeing Trump in the groin.
* She then ran down multiple floors of escalators in four-inch heels.
Tacopina found most of this incredulous, suggesting, for example, it coudn’t be rape if she didn’t scream and file charges.
Instead of folding under the pressure, Carroll remained steadfast and seemed honest while acknowledging her case’s greatest challenges. She didn’t scream because, ”I'm a fighter, not a screamer. ” She didn’t file charges because she, like other rape victims, has been afraid to speak up.
Why Carroll held back
Rape victims and trauma experts support Carroll’s story, saying it's not unusual for victims not to come forward for years, if at all. According to an article in today’s New York Times, “Testimony Highlights Trauma of Speaking Out Against Rape,” victims “know they’ll face doubts, questions, and ongoing assaults against their credibility,” most notably in court.
Veronique Valliere, a psychologist who counsels sexual assault perpetrators and victims said, “All the defense has to do really is attack the decision-making of the victim (and)…diminish the credibility of the victim to introduce doubt.”
Carroll’s upfront description of her own failings has helped to blunt that defense tactic used by past rape defendants and by Trump’s team now. She ascribed her not coming forward earlier to a fear of Trump’s wealth, power, and celebrity status and how it could be trained against her.
Trump’s power might lead to physical, professional, and economic retaliation, as evidenced by jobs actually lost since the incident'; Trump’s current threats and those of his followers; and now the aggressive tactics of Trump’s legal team designed to vanquish her in court.
Carroll also admitted to a common rape victim habit of blaming themselves, seeing her flirtatious behavior–for the purpose of having innocent fun and getting a story–as fodder for misinterpretation. The decision to follow Trump into the dressing room, “still haunts me to this day,” Carroll said.
Carroll’s self-examination was so intense she has not been comfortable with men since the incident. Believing she no longer possessed the judgment to know what was OK and what wasn’t, Carroll said any sexual connections with men ended
with Trump’s rape.
Why she came forward
Why Carroll finally came forward is linked to the legal and cultural changes since the late 1990s encounter at the heart of her case. Carroll’s suit was made legally possible by a recent New York state statute that allows rape victims to sue for defamation years after their alleged rapes occurred, since it’s not unusual for victims to feel safe enough to come forward until many years later.
Carroll also took support from the 2017 MeToo movement that proved women could sue their powerful abusers and be taken seriously. Carroll filed her charges against Trump in 2019.
Such delays are understandable to MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance who commented on the power of bullying, actual or anticipated. “Women know they’ll have to go through this second victimization and ridicule. Despite MeToo, we still have a long way to go.”
Once a bully…
The bullying inherent in the act of rape itself and also in the way the former New York celebrity-turned-president is treating the proceedings from his Mar-a-Lago resort has taken center stage in Carroll’s case.
Just as he did prior to his arrest for the Stormy Daniels payoff, Trump has used his “Truth Social” media site to hurl insults both at Carroll and the American judicial process, which is designed to give everyone — plaintiff and defendant — their day
in court.
True to his past behavior when facing accountability for actions, Trump’s taken to social media to “rough up” in bully fashion everyone involved in the case, referring to the proceedings using his oft-used “witch hunt,” “scam,” and “hoax” tropes.
Bullying Justice
Trump’s decision not to show up, although legally allowed for defendants in civil cases, also could be construed as a form of bullying, as bullies often send in others to do their dirty work while they watch from afar. In Trump’s absence, lead attorney Joe Tacopina and his team speak for the former president, and they’ve done so by mimicking Trump’s aggressive style in court.
Trump’s goading the plaintiff, whom he refers to as “Ms. Bergdorf Goodman,” to produce a semen stained dress like the one Monica Lewinsky produced to prove a sexual relationship with then-President Bill Clinton was used, unsuccessfully, by Tacopina, incurring the judge’s ire and ridicule by legal experts watching each
day’s events.
Carroll has saved the dress and is willing to submit it into evidence. But Judge Lewis Kaplan has ordered that no DNA evidence be allowed in the case since Trump has refused to submit to DNA testing.
“Why doesn’t Carroll produce her semen stained dress?” was the question in so many words Tacopina asked generally in the courtroom. Kaplan reminded the 45th president’s attorneys the DNA issue had been settled; there won’t be any DNA evidence in the case due to Trump’s lack of cooperation. By trying to trick the jury and then being called on it by the judge, Tacopina and his client look sleazy—not a good look in court.
Coming on (too) strong
Tacopina’s booming voice, asking the same questions again and again, and contemptuous responses to Carroll’s answers also have resulted in rebukes from the judge, “sustained” motions to plaintiff attorney objections, and uncomfortable shifting-in-seats reported among the jurors, earning still more poor marks.
Legal observers see Tacopina as himself embodying the kind of aggressiveness against women that’s at the heart of the case. According to Jon A. Sale, former chief assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Tacopina is coming on too strong.
“When your client is charged with being a bully, you don’t bully the complaining witness,” Sale said this morning on MSNBC.
What’s next
Carroll is taking the stand again today while Court observers wonder if the Mar-a-Lago resident will return to the Big Apple and take the stand in his own defense.
Deposition–an admission?
At special issue is a thorny problem of Trump’s own making – his deposition, a sworn account of the facts of the case given prior to the trial.
Deposed in video fashion, Trump was asked about an interview Carroll did with CNN’s Anderson Cooper where Carroll says she prefers not to refer to Trump’s assault as rape, because “rape can be a (positive) fantasy for some people.”
Asked during the deposition for his reaction, Trump responded, “She actually indicated that she liked it, okay? I think she said it was sexy. Didn’t she say it was very sexy to be raped?”
One of Carroll’s attorneys drilled down, asking: “I want to confirm it’s your testimony that E. Jean Carroll said she loved being sexually assaulted by you.”
Trump answered: “Based on her interview with Anderson Cooper, I believe that’s what took place.”
On the Katy Tur-hosted MSNBC Reports, NBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos saw Trump’s deposition as “vaguely committing” to Carroll’s version of events. He added: “Because Trump’s not attending (the trial), Carroll’s lawyers will play that into evidence. And because he’s not taking the stand, he cannot say, ‘This is taken out of context. What I meant to say is that this is what she’s saying. This is her story.’”
Cevallos concluded describing the high stakes consequences if Trump doesn’t show up to defend himself. “Depositions can make or break a case. If you say something out of context, that’s locked in granite and is going to come back to bite you.”
Will he or won’t he?
So far, Tacopina has not directly answered Judge Kaplan’s question about whether Trump will or will not take the stand. As background, Trump attorneys from other cases such as the Mueller investigation have prevented Trump’s in-person testimony, believing he could easily incriminate himself by virtue of his “I can say anything I want and get away with it” state of mind.
Embracing Jan. 6 and opening golf courses
In the meantime, Trump has been campaigning in New Hampshire where last weekend he hugged a convicted Jan. 6 rioter and called her “wonderful.” Today, he flew to Aberdeen, Scotland to open a second golf course. According to the BBC, on his arrival Trump said cheerily to reporters, “This was the home of my mother! It is great to be home. ”
—trg