Former President Donald Trump mistakenly identified E. Jean Carroll, the columnist who alleges he raped her in a New York department store in the 1990s, as his ex-wife Marla Maples in an old photograph he was shown during a deposition, court transcripts unsealed on Wednesday revealed.
Trump has denied raping Carroll, previously saying she’s “not my type.”
During the deposition in October, Trump was shown a 1987 photo that featured him, his accuser and her husband, and his then-wife Ivana Trump. Pointing to Carroll, he declared: “It’s Marla.”
“You’re saying Marla is in this photo?” responded Roberta Kaplan, attorney for Carroll, per an excerpt of the testimony released by U.S. District Court for Southern New York.
“That’s Marla, yeah. That’s my wife,” Trump replied.
“No, that’s Carroll,” corrected the former president’s attorney, Alina Habba.
“Oh, I see,” said Trump, reported The Associated Press.
Trump didn’t marry Maples until 1993, some six years after the photo was taken.
In an earlier excerpt released from his deposition, Trump hurled insults about Carroll ― claiming she was “mentally sick” and a “nut job” who was only using the allegation to promote “a really crummy book.”
Carroll is suing Trump for defamation, claiming his comments about her appearance harmed her reputation. In a separate lawsuit, the writer is seeking damages for rape from the former reality TV personality.