Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to answer questions under oath on Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who says the Republican raped her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room. The deposition — if it takes place as planned — will give Carroll's lawyers a chance to interrogate Trump about the assault allegations as well as statements he made in 2019 when she told her story publicly for the first time.
Trump says Carroll's rape allegation is “a hoax and a lie.”
His legal team worked for years to delay his deposition in the lawsuit, which was filed when he was still president. A federal judge last week rejected Trump's request for another delay, saying he couldn't “run the clock out on plaintiff's attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong.”
Details of where, when and how Trump was to be questioned haven't been revealed by either his lawyers or Carroll's. Only the date has been revealed in court filings.
Trump still appeared to be in Florida as of Wednesday morning. Carroll was to have been questioned by Trump's lawyers last Friday. Neither her attorneys and nor Trump's have responded to questions about how that deposition went. Anything Trump says during his deposition could potentially be used as evidence in an upcoming civil trial. He hasn't faced any criminal charges related to Carroll's allegations and any prosecution is unlikely. The deadline for criminal charges over sexual assaults that occurred in the 1990s has long expired.
Similar legal deadlines also applied to civil lawsuits over sexual assault. As a result, Carroll chose to sue Trump for defamation over comments he made in 2019 when he denied any wrongdoing. She maintains his denials and attacks on her credibility and character damaged her reputation. However, New York lawmakers recently gave survivors of sexual violence a one-year window to sue their attackers over old assaults. Carroll's lawyer has told the court she intends to file such a suit against Trump after that window opens in late November.