After missing a Sunday deadline to request a court appearance, former U.S. President Donald Trump will not testify in a civil trial to dispute writer E. Jean Carroll’s accusations that he assaulted her in the 1990s and defamed her.
On Thursday, Trump’s attorney Joseph Tacopina informed the judge that Trump had waived his right to testify in the Manhattan federal court trial and decided not to provide a defense, betting that jurors would find Carroll’s evidence unconvincing.
Tacopina confirmed to Reuters what Trump’s legal team had told the court on Thursday: the former president will not testify.
After the jury left on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan told Tacopina to inform Trump that he had until Sunday at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) to tell the court if he would testify.
Kaplan sets Monday’s closing arguments. Last year, Carroll, 79, sued Trump, 76, for raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996 and then defaming her. The Elle advice writer wants unspecified damages.
Trump, president from 2017 to 2021 and running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has claimed Carroll made up the accusation to boost sales of her 2019 biography.
Trump denied raping Carroll in his Wednesday deposition.
“It’s the most ridiculous, disgusting story,” Trump stated in the video as Carroll’s attorneys provided documentation. “It’s fabricated.”
