Donald Trump, who has called himself “the most innocent man in the world,” will not put on a defense case in a civil battery and defamation trial brought against the former president, his attorney, Joe Tacopina, said Wednesday, according to CNN.
The sexual assault case was brought by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, who has alleged Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim, saying she wasn’t his type and suggesting that she made up the story to boost sales of her book.
The jury on Wednesday saw about 20 minutes of Trump’s video deposition taken last October.
During his deposition, Trump denied all wrongdoing and testified that he rarely “if ever” shopped at Bergdorf Goodman. He also testified during the deposition that he never read Carroll’s New York Magazine excerpt or her book in which she accuses him of raping her.
The jury also heard from Dr. Leslie Lebowitz, a clinical psychologist who testified Wednesday that she evaluated Carroll and found that she has no signs of thought or character disorders or mental illness, but that she has been harmed by the alleged rape by Trump.
Natasha Stoynoff, a journalist who’s accused Trump of sexually assaulting her also testified on Wednesday. Trump also denied Stoynoff’s claims.
