Former US President Donald Trump has waived his right to testify at a civil trial in Manhattan federal court, where writer E. Jean Carroll accused him of rape in the 1990s and later defamation. Trump’s attorney, Joseph Tacopina, informed the judge that his client will not testify, opting not to present a defense in the case. Tacopina did not provide any comment on the matter. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan had given Trump until Sunday to inform the court about his intention to testify. Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday.
Carroll, 79, is seeking unspecified monetary damages in her lawsuit against Trump, 76, claiming that he raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996 and then defamed her by denying it happened. Trump, who is the current frontrunner for the Republican US presidential nomination in 2024, denies the allegations. In a video deposition played for the jury on Wednesday, Trump called the allegations ‘the most ridiculous, disgusting story…just made up.’
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