Sunday, 7 May 2023

Donald Trump to not testify in New York rape, defamation trial

 

Former U.S. President Donald Trump will not testify at a civil trial to challenge claims made by writer E. Jean Carroll that he raped her in the 1990s and later defamed her, after letting a Sunday deadline pass without asking the court to appear.
Former President Donald Trump. (AP)
Former President Donald Trump. (AP)
Also read: DeSantis caught red-handed - Leaked footage reveals his calculated attempt to please Trump supporters

Trump’s attorney Joseph Tacopina told the judge on Thursday that Trump had waived his right to testify in the trial in Manhattan federal court and opted not to present a defense in the case, gambling that jurors will find that Carroll had failed to make a persuasive case.

In response to a Reuters request for comment, Tacopina said in a statement what Trump's legal team had already told the court on Thursday, that the former president would not testify in the case.

After the jury left for the day on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan asked Tacopina to inform Trump that he had until Sunday at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) to tell the court whether he intended to testify.

Kaplan has scheduled closing arguments from the two sides for Monday. Carroll, 79, filed her lawsuit last year against Trump, 76, claiming he raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996, and then defamed her by denying it happened. The former Elle magazine advice columnist is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Also read: Donald Trump defends lewd remarks, calls accuser a ‘nut job’ in new video

Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021 and is the current frontrunner for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination in 2024, has said Carroll made up the allegation to drive sales of her 2019 memoir.

In a video deposition played for the jury on Wednesday, Trump denied raping Carroll.

"It's the most ridiculous, disgusting story," Trump said in the video, hunched over a conference table as Carroll's lawyers presented documents to him. “It's just made up.”

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‘Don’t make same mistake': WFI chief to farmers joining wrestlers' protest

 

With the Samyukta Kisan Morcha extending support to the wrestlers' protest against him, Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has urged farmer leaders not to make the "mistake" and instead wait for the outcome of the probe into the allegations of sexual harassment made by the grapplers.
WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh (Twitter/b_bhushansharan)
WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh (Twitter/b_bhushansharan)

Singh, the BJP MP from Kaiserganj, again claimed he was innocent and alleged that he was targeted as he had brought reforms in the selection process for wrestlers.
Also read: WFI's Brij Bhushan touched inappropriately, 2 wrestlers tell Delhi Police: Report

The WFI chief made the remarks in a video posted on social media after the farmers' collective, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), on Saturday announced that it will hold nationwide protests in support of grapplers and demanded the immediate arrest of Singh.

A number of SKM leaders and members visited the protest site at Jantar Mantar on Sunday and expressed solidarity with the wrestlers who have been staging a sit-in against Singh since April 23. The Morcha had spearheaded the year-long agitation against the now-repealed farm laws of the Centre.

In a 25-minute video posted on Facebook on Saturday night, Singh said, “Chacha-Taau (uncles), I am not saying that you should not come to Delhi. You can come to Delhi, and do whatever you want.”

"From the first day I had said that if charges against me are proven, I will hang myself.

"Believe me, if daughters of your village are into wrestling, then ask them when no one is around if the allegations against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh depict what Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is. After that, you can do whatever you want."

Singh, a six-time MP booked by Delhi police for alleged sexual harassment of wrestlers, said, "It should not happen that when the probe report is out after one month, two months or three months, you have to repent.

"But, one thing I would say with folded hands is that when the probe is complete, I will come to your 'khaap' panchayat. If I am guilty, you can beat me to death with shoes."

He claimed that wrestlers who are staging a dharna have "nothing more to give (yeh khatm he)".

"I have made rules so that sportspersons from the bottom (layer) will come to the top.... Things went wrong after this," he said.

Singh also said that he had made rules to ensure that every wrestler has to give the trials. "Due to this, their problems have increased," he said on the agitating wrestlers.

The WFI president took potshots at Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, who are leading the protest, over their performance during the trials.
Also read: 'Big call will be taken': Vinesh Phogat's statement demanding Brij Bhushan's arrest

"If there is character assassination of a self-respecting person, then he himself dies, and this is happening today. The ones for whom I have done everything they have put my everything at stake. My elderly from the khap panchayats, I respect you a lot. If these children are committing a mistake, let them do so, my request to the elderly with folded hands is that you should not commit the mistake," he said.

The wrestlers have been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar demanding action against Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven female wrestlers, one of whom is a minor.

On April 28, Delhi Police registered two FIRs in connection with the allegations against the WFI chief.

The SKM has said that during May 11-18, an all-India agitation shall be held in all state capitals, district headquarters and talukas. Public meetings and protest marches shall be held in support of the agitating wrestlers.

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Donald Trump to not testify in New York rape, defamation trial

  Former U.S. President Donald Trump will not testify at a civil trial to challenge claims made by writer E. Jean Carroll that he raped her ...