Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll 'didn't blame the store,' psychologist testifies

Former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll continued to shop at Bergdorf Goodman, the Manhattan department store where she claimed Donald Trump raped her, because "she didn't feel that Bergdorf Goodman raped her," a psychologist testified Wednesday in Carroll's civil defamation and battery case against the former president.

Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleges that Trump defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying "This woman is not my type!" when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.

She added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.

"She didn't blame the store. She blamed herself," said Dr. Leslie Lebowitz, who evaluated Carroll for the case.

The defense suggested the fact that Carroll continued to shop at Bergdorf's, saved the dress she wore the evening of the alleged assault, and watched Trump's reality television show, "The Apprentice," were behaviors out of step with the deep trauma Carroll said she suffered.

Lebowitz pushed back against the inference from the defense that Carroll's rape claim against Trump could not be true because she did not act like it actually happened.

"I think anywhere Ms. Carroll could see evidence that she was negatively affected by what happened, she would fight against it. So to not go back into Bergdorf's would have been really obvious, given how much she loved that store," Lebowitz said.

The same holds true for the dress, Lebowitz said.

"I think that she loves clothes and that was the most expensive dress she'd ever brought," Lebowitz said. "It would have been impossible to avoid the realization that she was that negatively affected."

As for watching "The Apprentice," Lebowitz said there was excitement about the show in Carroll's professional and social circles. To not watch would have forced her to reveal why.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Chad Seigel asked Lebowitz if her diagnosis concluded that Carroll had been raped.

"You're not offering an opinion in this case whether Ms. Carroll was raped?" Seigel asked.

"I'm not," Lebowitz replied.

Lebowitz said that Carroll did meet some of the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, including exhibiting signs of memories affected by trauma. She described a moment during her evaluation when Carroll "began to squirm in her seat" because she appeared to be "re-experiencing" elements of the alleged assault.

She also told the jury that rape victims commonly experience self-blame.

During her testimony earlier this week, Carroll said, "I was ashamed. I thought it was my fault."

"Why did you think it was your fault, Ms. Carroll?" her attorney, Michael Ferrara, asked.

"Because I was flirting with him and laughing and having one of the great times. It was high comedy. It was funny," Carroll said.

Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told Judge Lewis Kaplan at the conclusion of testimony Tuesday that Trump himself would not be testifying in the case.

"It's his call," the judge said. "I understand that. You understand that. He understands that."

Trump is not required to appear, as the trial is a civil case and not a criminal one.

The nine-member jury of six men and three women is weighing Carroll's defamation and battery claims and deciding potential monetary damages.

Carroll's lawsuit is her second against Trump related to her rape allegation.

She previously sued Trump in 2019 after the then-president denied her rape claim by telling The Hill that Carroll was "totally lying," saying, "I'll say it with great respect: No. 1, she's not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" That defamation suit has been caught in a procedural back-and-forth over the question of whether Trump, as president, was acting in his official capacity as an employee of the federal government when he made those remarks.

If Trump is determined to have been acting as a government employee, the U.S. government would substitute as the defendant in that suit -- which means that case would go away, since the government cannot be sued for defamation.

This month's trial is taking place as Trump seeks the White House for a third time, while facing numerous legal challenges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, his handling of classified material after leaving the White House, and possible attempts to interfere in Georgia's 2020 vote. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said last week she would decide whether to file criminal charges against Trump or his allies this summer.