New York: Donald Trump goes to trial on Tuesday, where the writer E. Jean Carroll is accusing the former US president in a civil lawsuit of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
Jury selection is expected to begin in Manhattan federal court, where the former Elle magazine advice columnist is also accusing Trump of defamation.
Trump, 76, has denied raping Ms Carroll, 79, He called her claim a “hoax” and “complete Scam” in a October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform. He has said she made up the encounter to promote her memoir and declared that she was “not my type!”
Trump is not required to attend the trial. His lawyers have said he may not appear, citing the likelihood of security concerns and traffic delays. Ms Carroll’s lawyers have said they do not plan to call Trump as a witness.
If Trump testified, he would likely face an aggressive cross-examination. Trump has repeatedly attacked Carroll and in personal terms since she first publicly accused him of rape in 2019. He has claimed she is mentally ill.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversees the case, is keeping jurors anonymous from the public, including the lawyers, to shield them from potential harassment by Trump supporters.
The trial could last one to two weeks.
Trump, the Republican front-runner for the 2024 presidential election, faces a slew of lawsuits and investigations.
These include Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal charges over hush money payments to a porn star.
Trump pleaded not guilty to those charges on April 4 at a New York state courthouse, a three-minute walk from Tuesday’s trial.
The former president also faces civil fraud charges by New York Attorney General Letitia James into his namesake company.
Trump also faces criminal probes into interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential race and into classified government documents recovered at his Mar-a-Lago residence, plus inquiries into his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
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