In a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday, a jury will begin hearing E. Jean Carroll’s allegation that former President Donald J. Trump raped her more than two decades ago in a department dressing room. store, in a move that seeks to apply accountability in # The MeToo era to a dominating political figure.
The trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan, expected to last one to two weeks, stems from a lawsuit and comes amid a barrage of legal action aimed at Mr. Trump, who is running to regain the presidency and argues that the lawsuits The investigations are intended to drag him.
Ms. Carroll, a former magazine columnist, said nothing publicly about the encounter for decades before publishing a memoir in 2019 accusing Mr. Trump of assaulting her.
In the suit, Ms. Carroll, 79, says that one night in the mid-1990s, he visited the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, where he was a regular shopper. There, the suit says, he met Mr. Trump. The two had met at least once before, and they traveled in the same circles in New York City, the suit says. He said he was buying a gift for “a girl,” and she asked him to advise her. She said he eventually accompanied her to the lingerie department where, she claims, he maneuvered her into a dressing room and raped her.
Mr. Trump, 76, denied that he raped Ms. Carroll, accused him of lying and attacked him repeatedly in public statements and on social media, while in office and after leaving. In 2019, after she published her account, he called her allegation “absolutely false” and said he didn’t rape her because she wasn’t his “type.” In October, he again said, in a Truth Social post, that he was not telling the truth and that the case was a “complete job.”
Before 9 am on Tuesday, Ms. Carroll walked past the cameras lining Worth Street and entered the courtroom. He took his place in a growing security line next to dozens of potential jurors.
A few protesters gathered. Supporters of the plaintiff shouted “We support E. Jean Carroll” and one held a sign that said “Trump is a rapist.” Another man held a sign that read “Jewish Crook Arrest Him!,” referring to Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn who helped fund Ms. Carroll.
The lawyers of Ms. Carroll will ask the jury to find Mr. Trump to be liable for battery, and if he is found responsible, to award monetary damages.
Here are some facts about the case:
The New York State law that allows Ms. Carroll brought his suit less than a year ago. The Adult Survivors Act, passed in May 2022, allows victims of abuse one chance to file civil lawsuits, even if the statute of limitations has run out. The defendants will be able to file charges within a 12-month period that began on November 24. Ms. Carroll filed his lawsuit the first day it was approved.
Mr. Trump was not required to attend the hearing, and Ms. Carroll made it clear they did not want to call him as a witness, the judge said in a recent order. He can decide to testify in his own defense.
Judge Lewis Kaplan will preside over the jury selection process on Tuesday, putting his own questions to prospective jurors and others submitted by attorneys for Ms. Carroll and the former president. In the end, six to 12 New Yorkers will be chosen. Then, the opening statements will begin.
Grandma Fadulu and Kate Christobek contributed to the report.