In a sworn deposition, former president Donald Trump mistakenly identified his ex-wife Marla Maples as E. Jean Carroll, who is suing him in separate lawsuits for sexual assault and defamation. This is revealed in recently unsealed court excerpts.
“Yes, it is Marla. That is my husband “When shown an old black-and-white photograph of several people, including himself and Carroll, Donald Trump mistook Carroll for Maples (Trump’s second wife and his spouse from 1993 until 1999).
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Donald Trump, corrected Trump when Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan questioned him about who he was pointing to in the picture, stating, “No, that’s Carroll.”
Trump’s misidentification is followed by a five-page gap in the court-filed transcript of his deposition excerpts, leaving it unclear what happened next.
Carroll being mistakenly identified by Trump as his second wife might undermine his frequent claims that she is “not my type,” including in formal deposition testimony.
Some Trump deposition excerpts have been ordered published as a trial date is set in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
More:After being found guilty of tax fraud, two Trump organisations were ordered to pay $1.6 million.
During the sworn deposition on Oct. 19 at his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago, Trump made it obvious how he felt about Carroll’s accusations.
While I’m not permitted to say it, I’ll say it anyway: This woman is not my type. It’s a fraud and a lie, just like all the other hoaxes that have been done on me for the past seven years, added Donald Trump.
Excerpts from depositions were first kept under seal. But on Friday and this week, separate rulings from U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is not related to Carroll’s lawyer, ordered them to be made public.
Carroll, who is now 79, was a former beauty queen and advice columnist for magazines. She is one of about 17 women who have accused Trump of sexually touching them. He has refuted the claims and stated in the excerpts that he has never sexually touched a woman against her will.
Carroll’s two complaints centre on what she claims was a chance encounter in Manhattan and at the upscale Bergdorf Goodman department shop about 27 years ago. Carroll claimed in court documents that the interaction “took a dark turn.”
E. Jean Carroll, who is already suing Donald Trump for defamation, has filed a second case against him.
Carroll’s most recent lawsuit claims that Trump, who she claims asked her to assist him in selecting a gift for a woman, accompanied her to the lingerie section where he “pressed her up against a dressing room wall, pushed her in place with his shoulder, and raped her.”
