Former US President Donald Trump made an embarrassing mistake when asked about the rape allegations by columnist E. Jean Carroll. When Trump saw a photo from the 1990s, he mistook the photo of Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples, according to a court document.
In Trump’s own words, Carroll is not his “type”. “This is Marla, yes. This is my wife,” Trump said, according to a transcript released of interviews by Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan last October. Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, immediately intervened: “No, it’s Carroll.”
Trump was married to actress Maples from 1993 to 1999. Trump’s daughter Tiffany is from this marriage. Carroll, now 79, publicly accused then-President Trump in 2019 of raping her in a dressing room at upscale New York department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s.
published research
Trump denied the allegations, saying the former Elle columnist was “totally lying”. He added, “She’s not my type.” Carroll sued Trump for defamation over this.
In connection with that lawsuit, Trump was questioned under oath by attorney Kaplan last October at his luxury home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The interrogation transcript has now been made public by the competent New York court.
New law allows lawsuits
In November, Carroll also sued Trump for the alleged rape itself, which was actually time-barred. This was made possible by a new law in the state of New York, under which alleged rape victims can sue the alleged perpetrators for damages, regardless of the statute of limitations.
When questioned by Carroll’s lawyer last October, Trump reiterated that the columnist was not his “type”. But the fact that he confused her with his ex-wife Maples could be used by Carroll’s lawyer to question this defense strategy.