E. Jean Carroll, 79, a former Elle advice columnist, alleges that 76-year-old President Donald Trump raped her in the 1990s in the women’s dressing room of Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman. Whatever one thinks of Carroll’s allegation, she’s the first an only women to accuse Trump of sexual assault, something that happened over 25 years ago. Carroll decided to go public with her claims in 2019 before Trump left office Jan. 20, 2021. When you consider the allegation, it’s a wild tale, incomprehensible to anyone other that the most biased anti-Trump partisans. Carroll admitted today in court that she never considered suing Trump until she was convinced to do so by 59-year-old anti-Trump Lincoln Project co-founder lawyer George Conway, the former wife of Trump’s 56-year-old former campaign manager and senior presidential Adiser Kellyanne Conway.
For whatever reason, George Conway became a Trump hater, largely from making endless deprecating comments about Trump during his four years in office. Trump, himself, criticized Conway as the “loser husband” of his former senior adviser Kellyane, apparently the couple is no longer together. Conway co-founded the Lincoln Project with Democrat political strategist Rick Wilson, who actively campaigned for former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016. Conway and Wilson did everything possible to defeat Trump in 2016, feeding former FBI Director James Comey utter rubbish against Trump, all based on Hillary’s opposition research AKA the Steele dossier. Former CIA Director James Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey used the Steele dossier as probable cause to investigate Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign to help Hillary.
Cross examining Carroll in court today, Carroll admitted that she never considered suing Trump until she was urged to do so by Conway, even supplying her with an attorney who’d take her case. Conway saw Carroll as the perfect person to discredit Trump as he actively campaigns for the 2024 presidential election. Recent polls show Trump up 45% over his closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who hasn’t yet announced his run for president. While expected to run, DeSantis has been in no rush to declare his candidacy, largely because he wanted to see how Trump’s legal problems panned out. When Trump was indicted April 8 on 34 felonies by 49-year0old Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, for alleged financial crimes related to hush money payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels, DeSantis saw hope. DeSantis knows that Trump is also under the legal microscope for other crimes.
If Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland and his Special Counsel Jack Smith charge Trump with crimes related to Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots or classified documents found by the FBI at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, DeSantis knows that Trump’s lead could evaporate quickly. Hearing Carroll admit that known Trump-hater George Conway influenced her decision to sue, actually giving her an attorney for her case, directly goes to her credibility, regardless of Carroll’s wild allegation. At the time in the mid-90s Carroll claims Trump raped her, he was already a world famous NY real estate tycoon. Trump’s 1987 book with Tony Schwartz “The Art of the Deal” had already made him a household word together with many appearances on the nationally syndicated “Howard Stern Show.” Carroll’s raped claim happened a decade before NBC’s “Apprentice” show debuted Jan. 8, 2004.
Carroll admitted in court she enjoyed watching “The Apprenctice,” denying that she had a crush on Trump. Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, got Carroll to admit that only two days after talking with Conway about suing Trump, he got her an attorney to handle her case. “Before that, you had no intention of suing Donald Trump, as we just heard,” Tacopina asked Carroll. Carroll said she sued Trump for defamation after he denied any of her rape allegations. Tacopina asked Carroll about a 2012 Facebook post where she admitted to be “MASSIVE” fan of NBC’s reality-TV show “The Apprentice.” Under cross examination, Carroll admitted she liked the show because she’d “never seen such a witty competition on television,” of course the quick wit involved Trump’s reactions to his many guests looking to become rich entrepreneurs. Carroll’s exchange with Tacopina impeached her credibility.
Claiming she was raped in a dressing room a Bergdorf Goodman makes zero sense, even by “MeToo” movement standards. No women allegedly victimized in a Department Store would have let such a horrific crime go unnoticed for 25 years, let alone one minute. What’s a jury or judge suppose to think now that it comes out that Carroll was influenced to sue Trump by Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway, one of the biggest Trump-haters in Washington. Regardless of Carroll’s testimony about the alleged rape 25 years ago, her recent admissions weigh heavily on her credibility. Trump’s fame-and-fortune in the mid-90s gave him every opportunity, married or not, to have his share of women, without any criminal act like rape. Carroll’s story by itself defies all plausible deniability. Now that George Conway’s involved, what’s left for judge and jury to think?
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
