Donald Trump has finally offered his DNA to E Jean Carroll in his upcoming rape case – but only after the deadline for evidence submission.
According to The Daily Beast, the former president’s attorneys said that he finally agreed to undergo a DNA test to compare his sample to the dress Ms Carroll claims she was wearing at that time.
Ms. Carroll was a TV talk-show host at the time and claims that Mr Trump raped them in a dressing area in Bergdorf Goodman, a Manhattan department store. This was in 1996.
She claims that she met Mr Trump by chance and started chatting before Mr Trump pinned and sexually assaulted both of them.
Ms. Carroll kept the Donna Karan black coat dress that she claimed she was wearing at the moment – and this now-famous item is at the heart of her case against the one term president.
The allegations against Trump were first made public in 2019, when he was President.
In a White House press conference at the time, Trump denied the allegations, saying that he had never met her and that she was not his type.
Ms. Carroll denied his claims and shared a photo that she claimed proves they had met. The photo shows them together with Mr Trump’s then-wife Ivana Trump, and John Johnson, her then-husband at an NBC party in 1987.
Later that year, she filed a defamation lawsuit.
Despite Mr Trump’s repeated attempts to stall proceedings in the lawsuit, she filed a second suit against him for six crimes under New York law after New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, which removed the statute of limitations on rape allegations. The case is set to go to trial in April.
After testing revealed unidentified male DNA on the sleeves and shoulder of the black dress, Ms. Carroll’s legal team has been requesting that Mr Trump hand over a DNA sample for the past three years. Trump has repeatedly rejected the offer up to now.
However, experts and a source told The Daily Beast that the sudden change of heart appears to be a trap.
Ms. Carroll has not received a DNA sample from Donald Trump and the deadline to discover evidence in the case is now past.
This means that Mr Trump’s DNA cannot be tested against the dress’s DNA. According to legal experts, this appears to be Mr Trump’s legal strategy to show that he did provide his DNA. Jurors might interpret that as an indication of innocence. However, the defense did not test it. Jurors might interpret that as a sign that it will not match.
According to The Daily Beast, Albert Scherr, a University of New Hampshire professor and one of the nation’s leading experts on forensic DNA evidence, said that it sounds like Trump’s usual dilatory tactics.
“Trump’s lawyers in all venues have the strong propensity for delay and delay, and to muck up things as a rule.”
A judge can reopen the discovery phase of a trial. It is rare but possible.
However, if this happens, Mr Trump’s DNA might finally be tested against the infamous gown.
The Independent reached out to Ms. Carroll and Mr Trump’s lawyers for comment. The Daily Beast was not able to get comment from Mr Trump’s lawyers and Ms Carroll’s legal counsels.
During his first White House tenure, more than 10 women accused Trump of sexual misconduct. He denied the allegations and has not been charged with a crime.
