Lawyer for Trump accuser seeking DNA sample

A lawyer for a woman who accused former President Trump of rape is seeking a DNA sample instead of a deposition in order to move on with the case more quickly, she told The Associated Press in an article published Wednesday.

In a 2019 book, E. Jean Carroll accuses Trump of raping her in a New York department store in the 1990s. She has filed a defamation lawsuit against the former president.

Carroll told reporters Tuesday that she is going to trial for all the women “who have been grabbed and groped, assaulted and raped by men in power and are silenced.”

“We are looking to bring justice, at least in this one case, against a powerful man,” Carroll said.

Carroll added that she would “never settle, ever” in this case.

“This is about principle,” Carroll said. “It’s about a powerful man assaulting and raping a woman and then getting away with it. That’s not right.”

Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, first announced the choice to seek a DNA sample rather than a deposition in a Manhattan court Tuesday during a pretrial hearing.

“We want the case to go forward,” Kaplan said, emphasizing that a deposition would “inevitably result in an inordinate amount of delay.”

Trump attorney Alina Habba called the prosecution’s decision “surprising,” adding that no DNA sample has been demanded yet.

However, Kaplan verified that she requested the sample in state court, a request that has now transferred to federal court in Manhattan.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan implied after oral arguments that he may not allow Trump to countersue Carroll, according to reports by Reuters.

Carroll’s lawsuit accuses Trump of defamation for denying that he knew Carroll and saying “she’s not my type” after insisting that Carroll fabricated her claim of rape for book sales. 

Trump’s attorneys have indicated they may attempt to claim that Carroll’s suit violated an “anti-SLAPP” law, which protects free speech.

“I question whether you have the right to do what you are seeking to do,” Judge Kaplan told Habba in reference to the potential countersuit. “Because it seems to me it’s entirely inconsistent with the notion of futility. It may not be the way I resolve this matter.”

Carroll counsel Roberta Kaplan released a statement following the oral arguments: “Today the court heard arguments on Donald J. Trump’s latest, meritless effort to delay E. Jean Carroll’s quest to show the world the truth. We are grateful to Judge Kaplan for his respectful consideration of the issues and look forward to proving our case at trial.”

Updated at 2:23 p.m.