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NEW YORK: A woman told a civil trial in New York on Tuesday that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her on a trip in the United States in the late 1970s.
Jessica Leeds He recounted the alleged attack while testifying in writer E. Jean Carroll’s rape and defamation case against the former president.
Leeds told Manhattan federal court that trump He put his hand up her skirt in the business class section of a flight to New York in 1978 or 1979.
“There was no conversation,” said Leeds, now 81. “It was like a surprise.”
“He was trying to kiss me and grab my breasts,” she added.
Trump has repeatedly denied all allegations sexual assault He was never criminally prosecuted for such allegations.
Leeds was called to testify by Carroll’s attorney to try to convince the nine-person jury that Trump had engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct.
Carroll, 79, sued Trump alleging he sexually assaulted her in the changing room at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.
She also claims that Trump then defamed her when he called her a “total fraud job” after she went public with the allegations in 2019.
Leeds first made her allegations in an interview with The New York Times weeks before the 2016 election that sent Trump to the White House.
About a dozen women accusing Trump of sexual misconduct came forward in the run-up to the vote
Leeds announced the accusation after Trump denied allegations of sexual assault during a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton.
“I was furious that he was lying,” Leeds recalled.
Jurors also watched a video of Trump previously denying Leeds’ accusation, in which he said, “Believe me, you wouldn’t be my first choice.”
Trump’s lawyers confirmed that the former president would not testify.
A friend of Carroll’s testified Tuesday, telling jurors that Carroll called her shortly after the alleged attack, in 1996, to confide in her.
Lisa Birnbach testified, “I want the world to know that she was telling the truth.”
Trump’s lawyers argued that Birnbach was motivated by politics, citing comments she made on the podcast calling Trump a “social narcissist,” a “Russian agent,” and an “origin” of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Carroll filed her lawsuit late last year after a New York law went into effect that gives victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue alleged abusers decades after the attacks occurred.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and asks Trump to retract his comments.
No criminal prosecution could stem from Carroll’s civil case, but if Trump loses, it will be the first time he has ever been legally prosecuted for sexual assault allegations.
The case is one of several legal challenges facing Trump as the 76-year-old Republican seeks to return to the White House in next year’s election.
Last month, he pleaded not guilty to a criminal case involving hush money payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 vote.
Trump is also under investigation regarding his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election in the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House and his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
Jessica Leeds He recounted the alleged attack while testifying in writer E. Jean Carroll’s rape and defamation case against the former president.
Leeds told Manhattan federal court that trump He put his hand up her skirt in the business class section of a flight to New York in 1978 or 1979.
“There was no conversation,” said Leeds, now 81. “It was like a surprise.”
“He was trying to kiss me and grab my breasts,” she added.
Trump has repeatedly denied all allegations sexual assault He was never criminally prosecuted for such allegations.
Leeds was called to testify by Carroll’s attorney to try to convince the nine-person jury that Trump had engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct.
Carroll, 79, sued Trump alleging he sexually assaulted her in the changing room at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.
She also claims that Trump then defamed her when he called her a “total fraud job” after she went public with the allegations in 2019.
Leeds first made her allegations in an interview with The New York Times weeks before the 2016 election that sent Trump to the White House.
About a dozen women accusing Trump of sexual misconduct came forward in the run-up to the vote
Leeds announced the accusation after Trump denied allegations of sexual assault during a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton.
“I was furious that he was lying,” Leeds recalled.
Jurors also watched a video of Trump previously denying Leeds’ accusation, in which he said, “Believe me, you wouldn’t be my first choice.”
Trump’s lawyers confirmed that the former president would not testify.
A friend of Carroll’s testified Tuesday, telling jurors that Carroll called her shortly after the alleged attack, in 1996, to confide in her.
Lisa Birnbach testified, “I want the world to know that she was telling the truth.”
Trump’s lawyers argued that Birnbach was motivated by politics, citing comments she made on the podcast calling Trump a “social narcissist,” a “Russian agent,” and an “origin” of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Carroll filed her lawsuit late last year after a New York law went into effect that gives victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue alleged abusers decades after the attacks occurred.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and asks Trump to retract his comments.
No criminal prosecution could stem from Carroll’s civil case, but if Trump loses, it will be the first time he has ever been legally prosecuted for sexual assault allegations.
The case is one of several legal challenges facing Trump as the 76-year-old Republican seeks to return to the White House in next year’s election.
Last month, he pleaded not guilty to a criminal case involving hush money payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 vote.
Trump is also under investigation regarding his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election in the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House and his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
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