WASHINGTON: A friend of E. Jean Carroll on Tuesday backed up the writers account of being raped by Donald Trump, testifying during a civil trial that she received a phone call about the alleged attack minutes after it occurred.

Author Lisa Birnbach told a jury in Manhattan federal court that she vividly remembered Carroll calling her one evening in the spring of 1996 and saying Trump had just attacked her in a dressing room in the lingerie section of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City.

The rape claim arose in Carroll’s 2019 memoir, “What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.” Under cross-examination on Monday, she denied making up her claims to drive publicity for the memoir.

Carroll’s civil lawsuit for battery and defamation alleges Trump raped her and then tarred her reputation by claiming in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform that the former Elle magazine advice columnists case was a complete con job and a Hoax and a lie.

Trump, a Republican seeking to regain the US presidency in 2024, has denied the allegations and said he has never met Carroll, whom he accuses of making up the story.

On Monday, Carroll wrapped up her third day on the witness stand, where she recounted the alleged assault and responded to pointed cross-examination by a lawyer for Trump, who questioned nearly every aspect of her account.

Birnbach testified that Carroll refused to go to the police after the alleged rape and asked her to never tell anyone about the incident.

Instead of wallowing, she puts on lipstick, dusts herself off and moves on, Birnbach said, explaining why her friend stayed silent about the alleged assault for decades.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2023