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Trump rape accuser E Jean Carroll seeks DNA sample from president | Trump rape accuser E Jean Carroll seeks DNA sample from president |
(32 minutes later) | |
Notice served to Trump attorney for ‘analysis and comparison against’ DNA on dress Carroll says she wore during encounter | Notice served to Trump attorney for ‘analysis and comparison against’ DNA on dress Carroll says she wore during encounter |
Lawyers for a woman who accuses Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s are asking for a DNA sample, seeking to determine whether his genetic material is on a dress she says she wore during the encounter. | Lawyers for a woman who accuses Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s are asking for a DNA sample, seeking to determine whether his genetic material is on a dress she says she wore during the encounter. |
Advice columnist E Jean Carroll’s lawyers served notice to a Trump attorney on Thursday for the president to submit a sample on 2 March in Washington for “analysis and comparison against unidentified male DNA present on the dress”. | Advice columnist E Jean Carroll’s lawyers served notice to a Trump attorney on Thursday for the president to submit a sample on 2 March in Washington for “analysis and comparison against unidentified male DNA present on the dress”. |
Carroll filed a defamation suit against Trump in November after he denied her allegation. Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, then had the black wool coat-style dress tested. A lab report with the legal notice says DNA found on the sleeves was a mix of at least four people, at least one of them male. | Carroll filed a defamation suit against Trump in November after he denied her allegation. Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, then had the black wool coat-style dress tested. A lab report with the legal notice says DNA found on the sleeves was a mix of at least four people, at least one of them male. |
Several other people were tested and eliminated as possible contributors to the mix, according to the lab report, which was obtained by the Associated Press. Their names are redacted. | Several other people were tested and eliminated as possible contributors to the mix, according to the lab report, which was obtained by the Associated Press. Their names are redacted. |
While the notice is a demand, such demands often spur court fights requiring a judge to weigh in on whether they will be enforced. | While the notice is a demand, such demands often spur court fights requiring a judge to weigh in on whether they will be enforced. |
The AP sent a message to Trump’s attorney seeking comment. | The AP sent a message to Trump’s attorney seeking comment. |
Carroll accused Trump last summer of raping her in a Manhattan luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. | Carroll accused Trump last summer of raping her in a Manhattan luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. |
In a New York magazine article in June and a book published the next month, Carroll said she and Trump met by chance, chatted and went to the lingerie department for Trump to pick out a gift for an unidentified woman. She said joking banter about trying on a bodysuit ended in a dressing room, where she said Trump reached under her black wool dress, pulled down her tights and raped her as she tried to fight him off, eventually escaping. | In a New York magazine article in June and a book published the next month, Carroll said she and Trump met by chance, chatted and went to the lingerie department for Trump to pick out a gift for an unidentified woman. She said joking banter about trying on a bodysuit ended in a dressing room, where she said Trump reached under her black wool dress, pulled down her tights and raped her as she tried to fight him off, eventually escaping. |
“The Donna Karan coat dress still hangs on the back of my closet door, unworn and unlaundered since that evening,” she wrote. She donned it for a photo accompanying the magazine piece. | “The Donna Karan coat dress still hangs on the back of my closet door, unworn and unlaundered since that evening,” she wrote. She donned it for a photo accompanying the magazine piece. |
Trump said in June that Carroll was “totally lying” and he had “never met this person in my life”. While a 1987 photo shows them and their then spouses at a social event, Trump dismissed it as a moment when he was “standing with my coat on in a line”. | Trump said in June that Carroll was “totally lying” and he had “never met this person in my life”. While a 1987 photo shows them and their then spouses at a social event, Trump dismissed it as a moment when he was “standing with my coat on in a line”. |
“She is trying to sell a new book – that should indicate her motivation,” he said in one of various statements on the matter, adding that the book “should be sold in the fiction section”. | “She is trying to sell a new book – that should indicate her motivation,” he said in one of various statements on the matter, adding that the book “should be sold in the fiction section”. |
Carroll sued Trump in November, saying he smeared her and hurt her career as a longtime Elle magazine advice columnist by calling her a liar. She is seeking unspecified damages and a retraction of Trump’s statements. | Carroll sued Trump in November, saying he smeared her and hurt her career as a longtime Elle magazine advice columnist by calling her a liar. She is seeking unspecified damages and a retraction of Trump’s statements. |
“Unidentified male DNA on the dress could prove that Donald Trump not only knows who I am, but also that he violently assaulted me in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman and then defamed me by lying about it and impugning my character,” Carroll said in a statement on Thursday. | |
Her lawyer, Kaplan, said it was “standard operating procedure” in a sexual assault investigation to request a DNA sample from the accused. | Her lawyer, Kaplan, said it was “standard operating procedure” in a sexual assault investigation to request a DNA sample from the accused. |
“As a result, we’ve requested a simple saliva sample from Mr Trump to test his DNA, and there really is no valid basis for him to object,” she said. | “As a result, we’ve requested a simple saliva sample from Mr Trump to test his DNA, and there really is no valid basis for him to object,” she said. |
Trump is in the middle of being tried in the US Senate on articles of impeachment accusing him of abusing his position and obstructing Congress in his dealings with Ukraine. | Trump is in the middle of being tried in the US Senate on articles of impeachment accusing him of abusing his position and obstructing Congress in his dealings with Ukraine. |
Trump’s lawyer has tried to get the defamation case thrown out. A Manhattan judge declined to do so earlier this month, saying the attorney had not properly backed up his arguments that the case did not belong in a New York court. | |
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they come forward publicly. | The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they come forward publicly. |
Carroll said she did not do so for decades because she feared legal retribution from Trump and damage to her reputation, among other reasons. But when the #MeToo movement spurred reader requests for advice about sexual assault, she said, she decided she had to disclose her own account. | |
Trump is not the first president to face the prospect of a DNA test related to a woman’s dress. | |
Former president Bill Clinton underwent such a test during an independent counsel investigation into whether he had a sexual relationship with one-time White House intern Monica Lewinsky and then lied in denying it under oath. | |
After Clinton’s DNA was found on the dress, he acknowledged an “inappropriate intimate relationship” with Lewinsky. | After Clinton’s DNA was found on the dress, he acknowledged an “inappropriate intimate relationship” with Lewinsky. |
Clinton was impeached by the House in December 1998 and later acquitted by the Senate. | Clinton was impeached by the House in December 1998 and later acquitted by the Senate. |
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