NEW YORK – The New York author who claims Donald Trump raped her in the 1990s testified at the trial of her civil lawsuit that one of the former US president’s most outspoken critics played a key role in her decision to sue.

During questioning by Trump’s lawyer, Ms E. Jean Carroll, 79, told jurors on Monday that she decided to take legal action within days of being encouraged to do so at a party by Mr George Conway, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, a conservative super PAC (political action committee) that opposed Trump’s 2020 re-election bid. He is also the husband of former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway.  

Ms Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist who went public with her claim about Trump in 2019, is testifying for the third day of the trial before a jury of six men and three women. Trump denies wrongdoing and argues the case is part of a politically motivated “witch hunt”.

Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina played a portion of Ms Carroll’s videotaped deposition from October in which she recalled how people frequently asked her in the months after she went public with her allegation if she planned to sue Trump. Her reply was always “no, no, no”, she said.

It was not until she spoke to Mr Conway, a lawyer “who knew the ins and outs”, that she decided to consider suing Trump, Ms Carroll testified.

“Before that, you had no intention of suing Donald Trump, as we just heard,” Mr Tacopina said.

Ms Carroll agreed. She also confirmed under questioning by Mr Tacopina that two days after talking with Mr Conway, she met a lawyer he had recommended, and that she was aware at the time of Conway’s political views.

She also said she was not seeking attention through appearances on television and podcasts, while acknowledging they were an important driver of book sales.

Ms Carroll also resisted efforts by Mr Tacopina to show she experienced no suffering because, as Trump has claimed, the rape did not happen.

She said she hides her inner suffering in her role as an advice columnist, and that going to parties related to her lawsuits against Trump and stating publicly she was doing “fabulous” did not mean she was lying about him.

“In this courtroom, I’m being forced to tell the truth,” she told Mr Tacopina on her final day of testimony.

Ms Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019 after he accused her of fabricating the attack to sell a book. She sued him again in November under a New York law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on civil sexual assault claims. The latter case is the one now on trial.

In Monday’s cross-examination, Ms Carroll, asked by Mr Tacopina why she did not call the police to report the alleged rape, said there is nothing unusual about women her age not calling the police.

“Mr Tacopina, I was born in 1943 – I am a part of the silent generation,” Ms Carroll, who is now at Substack, said. “Women like me were told to keep our head’s up – not call the police. The fact that I never went to the police is not surprising for someone of my age.”

She said it was not until 2017, when the #MeToo movement began, that she finally began to “realise some really terrible things that I did not want to face”.

Ms Carroll was also asked about her decision to not use the word “rape” to describe the assault in her 2019 book, where she referred to it as an “incident”.

She said that in her mind, she considered her encounter with Trump a fight rather than a rape because she had to physically get him off her.

“I’m very careful in using the word,” she said. “I liked the word ‘fight’ because it gave me action.”

Mr Tacopina asked why Ms Carroll did not sue former CBS chief executive Les Moonves for defamation after he publicly denied her claim in her memoir that he once tried to sexually assault her.

Ms Carroll responded that Mr Moonves’ denial was more straightforward than Trump’s.

“He didn’t grind my face into the mud the way Donald Trump did,” she said.

Ms Carroll was also asked to explain a 2012 post on Facebook in which she said she was a “MASSIVE” fan of Trump’s reality TV show, The Apprentice, suggesting it was unusual for her to watch a show hosted by her alleged attacker.

She defended her opinion of the show by saying she had “never seen such a witty competition on television” and that she never watched the part of the show where Trump “fired” a contestant.

Trump lawyer seeks mistrial, accuses judge of bias

Mr Tacopina had sent an 18-page letter early on Monday accusing United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan of bias against Trump.

Mr Tacopina said several “unfair and prejudicial” rulings by Mr Kaplan reflected a “deeper leaning” towards Ms Carroll, including comments where the judge “openly expresses favouritism”.

Trump is leading the Republican field in the 2024 presidential race.

Mr Tacopina said Mr Kaplan, an appointee of Democratic president Bill Clinton, should have let him question Ms Carroll about why she did not seek security camera footage of the alleged rape.

He also challenged the judge’s statement that Trump might be “sailing in harm’s way” after his son Eric Trump discussed on Twitter how LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman was helping fund Ms Carroll’s case.

Mr Kaplan ruled on April 26 that Trump’s lawyers could not mention Mr Hoffman at the trial, calling it “unfairly prejudicial”.

Requests for mistrials often fail, but form a basis for eventual appeals.

Because Ms Carroll’s case is civil, she must establish her claims by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not, and need not meet the tougher criminal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS