NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� On a recent call to the nation’s governors, President Donald Trump urged them to 鈥� dominate 鈥� streets full of protesters, adding that as a New Yorker he was especially appalled at unrest in his home town.
鈥淚 live in Manhattan,鈥� he said.
That declaration is now getting attention from a different audience: lawyers for E. Jean Carroll, a writer suing Trump for denying her allegations that he raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s.
Carroll鈥檚 lawyers say Trump’s statement about where he lives blunts one of his legal arguments against the case: that it shouldn鈥檛 proceed in a New York court because he lives in Washington.
鈥淭rump鈥檚 lifelong connection to New York is as strong as ever,鈥� Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan wrote in a court filing Monday. It seeks a ruling that Trump can鈥檛 use the not-a-New Yorker argument, which a judge swatted down in early January but his lawyers later advanced again.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers did not return messages seeking comment.
Trump’s lawyers have been focusing since February on a different approach to trying to halt Carroll鈥檚 suit, arguing it shouldn鈥檛 proceed until New York鈥檚 highest court decides — in a separate case — whether an incumbent president is protected from all state-court suits unrelated to his official duties.
It鈥檚 unclear how soon a judge may rule on Trump鈥檚 request to pause Carroll鈥檚 case. The coronavirus has upended New York court operations for months.
Carroll, a former longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, went public last year with an allegation that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. She said it happened after a chance encounter and lighthearted chat about trying on a bodysuit.
Trump said Carroll was 鈥渢otally lying鈥� to sell a memoir and that he鈥檇 never met her, though a 1987 photo showed them and their then-spouses at a social event. He said it just captured a moment when he was standing in a line.
Carroll is seeking a DNA sample from Trump to see whether it matches as-yet-unidentified male genetic material found on a dress that she says she was wearing during the alleged attack and never put on again until a photo shoot last year.
In the suit, Carroll is seeking damages and a retraction of Trump鈥檚 statements.
The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly.
__
