NEW YORK: A woman advised a New York civil trial on Tuesday that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her on a flight within the United States within the late Seventies.
Jessica Leeds recounted the alleged assault whereas testifying within the author E Jean Carroll’s rape and defamation lawsuit towards the ex-president.
Leeds advised Manhattan’s federal court docket that Trump put his hand up her skirt within the enterprise class part of a flight to New York in 1978 or 1979.
“There was no dialog. It was like out of the blue,” stated Leeds, now 81.
“He was attempting to kiss me, grabbing my breasts,” she added.
Trump has repeatedly and strenuously denied all allegations of sexual assault and has by no means been criminally prosecuted over any such claims.
Leeds was known as to testify by Carroll’s attorneys to attempt to persuade the nine-person jury that Trump has engaged in a sample of sexual misconduct.
Carroll, 79, has sued Trump alleging he sexually assaulted her in a altering room on the luxurious Bergdorf Goodman division retailer in Manhattan within the mid-Nineties.
She additionally claims that Trump then defamed her when he known as her “an entire con job” after she went public with the allegation in 2019.
Leeds first made her allegations in an interview with The New York Times weeks earlier than the 2016 election that despatched Trump to the White House.
About a dozen girls got here ahead accusing Trump of sexual misconduct within the run-up to the vote
Leeds went public with the accusation after Trump refuted sexual assault allegations throughout a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton.
“I used to be livid as a result of he was mendacity,” Leeds recalled.
Jurors additionally watched a video of Trump’s earlier denial of Leeds’ accusation, the place he stated, “Believe me, she wouldn’t be my first selection.”
Trump’s attorneys confirmed that the ex-president wouldn’t be testifying.
A pal of Carroll’s additionally testified Tuesday, telling jurors that Carroll known as her shortly after the alleged assault, in 1996, to open up to her.
“I need the world to know she was telling the reality,” Lisa Birnbach testified.
Trump’s attorneys argued Birnbach was motivated by politics, citing feedback she has made on podcasts calling Trump a “narcissistic sociopath,” a “Russian agent” and an “asset” of Russian chief Vladimir Putin.
Carroll filed her lawsuit late final 12 months after a regulation took impact in New York that gave victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers a long time after assaults could have occurred.
The go well with seeks unspecified damages and asks that Trump retract his feedback.
No prison prosecution can stem from Carroll’s civil case but when Trump loses, will probably be the primary time he has ever been held legally liable over an allegation of sexual assault.
The case is one among a number of authorized challenges dealing with Trump because the 76-year-old Republican seeks a return to the White House in subsequent 12 months’s election.
Last month he pleaded not responsible in a prison case associated to a hush-money fee made to a porn star simply earlier than the 2016 vote.
Trump can also be being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss within the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of categorised paperwork taken from the White House and his involvement within the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
Jessica Leeds recounted the alleged assault whereas testifying within the author E Jean Carroll’s rape and defamation lawsuit towards the ex-president.
Leeds advised Manhattan’s federal court docket that Trump put his hand up her skirt within the enterprise class part of a flight to New York in 1978 or 1979.
“There was no dialog. It was like out of the blue,” stated Leeds, now 81.
“He was attempting to kiss me, grabbing my breasts,” she added.
Trump has repeatedly and strenuously denied all allegations of sexual assault and has by no means been criminally prosecuted over any such claims.
Leeds was known as to testify by Carroll’s attorneys to attempt to persuade the nine-person jury that Trump has engaged in a sample of sexual misconduct.
Carroll, 79, has sued Trump alleging he sexually assaulted her in a altering room on the luxurious Bergdorf Goodman division retailer in Manhattan within the mid-Nineties.
She additionally claims that Trump then defamed her when he known as her “an entire con job” after she went public with the allegation in 2019.
Leeds first made her allegations in an interview with The New York Times weeks earlier than the 2016 election that despatched Trump to the White House.
About a dozen girls got here ahead accusing Trump of sexual misconduct within the run-up to the vote
Leeds went public with the accusation after Trump refuted sexual assault allegations throughout a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton.
“I used to be livid as a result of he was mendacity,” Leeds recalled.
Jurors additionally watched a video of Trump’s earlier denial of Leeds’ accusation, the place he stated, “Believe me, she wouldn’t be my first selection.”
Trump’s attorneys confirmed that the ex-president wouldn’t be testifying.
A pal of Carroll’s additionally testified Tuesday, telling jurors that Carroll known as her shortly after the alleged assault, in 1996, to open up to her.
“I need the world to know she was telling the reality,” Lisa Birnbach testified.
Trump’s attorneys argued Birnbach was motivated by politics, citing feedback she has made on podcasts calling Trump a “narcissistic sociopath,” a “Russian agent” and an “asset” of Russian chief Vladimir Putin.
Carroll filed her lawsuit late final 12 months after a regulation took impact in New York that gave victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers a long time after assaults could have occurred.
The go well with seeks unspecified damages and asks that Trump retract his feedback.
No prison prosecution can stem from Carroll’s civil case but when Trump loses, will probably be the primary time he has ever been held legally liable over an allegation of sexual assault.
The case is one among a number of authorized challenges dealing with Trump because the 76-year-old Republican seeks a return to the White House in subsequent 12 months’s election.
Last month he pleaded not responsible in a prison case associated to a hush-money fee made to a porn star simply earlier than the 2016 vote.
Trump can also be being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss within the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of categorised paperwork taken from the White House and his involvement within the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
