Trump scheduled to be deposed in E. Jean Carroll defamation case
Former President Donald Trump could be deposed next month in the defamation lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll. She has accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York City department store in the 1990s.
A filing Friday by Carroll's attorneys in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York revealed that Trump is scheduled to be deposed on Oct. 19.
Carroll herself is scheduled to be deposed by Trump's attorneys on Oct. 14, per the filing.
Earlier this week, Trump's attorneys filed a motion seeking a stay in the case. Friday's filing was in response to that, requesting that the judge in the case deny Trump's motion.
In a memoir published in 2019, Carroll wrote that in late 1995 or early 1996, Trump sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman department store. Trump, while still in office, denied the allegations and alleged that Carroll was "totally lying," and that "she's not my type." This prompted Carroll to file the defamation suit in November 2019.
In October 2021, a federal judge in New York ruled that Trump was not shielded from Carroll's suit. However, last week, an appeals court ruled that the Justice Department may be able to shield Trump from the suit because he was an employee of the government when he was sued, and federal employees are protected from lawsuits related to their work.
Also this month, Carroll's attorneys indicated in a letter that she plans to file a sexual battery lawsuit against Trump under New York's new Adult Survivors Act. Carroll's attorneys also indicated that they may want to combine the sexual battery suit with the defamation suit.
Under the new law — between Nov. 24 this year and Nov. 23, 2023 — accusers can file civil lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct, regardless of when the alleged misconduct occurred.
In Friday's filing, Carroll's legal team also indicated that they may reach out to Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and former White House senior adviser, because, according to her attorneys, he is one of six people who Trump spoke to about Carroll or the alleged incident.
"Defendant identified his son-in-law Jared Kushner as one of only six people with whom Defendant has purportedly ever spoken about Plaintiff or this action," the filing reads. "We have requested the address and employer of Mr. Kushner and the other five witnesses — information that Defendant must disclose under Local Civil Rule 26.3(c)(3) — on six occasions since August 23. Defendant's counsel have repeatedly dodged our request, writing recently that they 'have reached out to the appropriate parties and are still working to obtain this information.'"
In the book, Carroll claimed she ran into Trump at the department store and he asked for advice on a gift for "a girl." Carroll claimed they eventually ended up in the lingerie department where Trump coerced her into a dressing room.
"The moment the dressing-room door is closed, he lunges at me, pushes me against the wall," she wrote.
"He seizes both my arms and pushes me up against the wall a second time, and, as I become aware of how large he is, he holds me against the wall with his shoulder and jams his hand under my coatdress and pulls down my tights," she wrote.