Days after rejecting his last chance to testify in the E. Jean Carroll case, Donald Trump is claiming that he was not given the opportunity to defend himself.
Carroll, an advice columnist, filed a civil defamation and battery case against Trump, accusing him of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman store in the 90s and later defaming her after she went public with the allegations in her book published in 2019.
The jury began deliberations on Tuesday after hearing three days of testimony from Carroll describing the alleged rape in the dressing room of the department store.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan gave Trump an extension on Thursday to file a request to testify by 5 p.m Sunday. The extension came after Trump told reporters in Ireland that he would be cutting his trip short to head back to the US and “confront” Carroll.
Despite his comments, Trump did not file the request to testify.
But, that didn’t stop the former president from falsely claiming on his Truth Social app Tuesday that he was not given the chance to defend himself in the trial.
“Waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of Rape, & is working with the press. I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!”
