Trump Rape Case: Columnist Says POTUS Sexually Assaulted Her, Wants His DNA Examined

Journalist and advice columnist Elizabeth Jean Carroll, who claims Donald Trump sexually assaulted her 25 years ago in a Bergdorf Goodman store in New York City, demands he provide a DNA sample to determine if it's his DNA on a black wool coatdress she wore during the assault.

Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, served notice to a Trump lawyer Thursday. The notice demands Trump submit a DNA sample on March 2 in Washington for “analysis and comparison against unidentified male DNA present on the dress.” Kaplan had Carroll's coatdress tested.

“As a result, we’ve requested a simple saliva sample from Mr. Trump to test his DNA, and there really is no valid basis for him to object,” said Kaplan.

A lab report says DNA found in skin cells on the outer surface of the sleeves belong to at least four people. At least one of these people is a man.

“Unidentified male DNA on the dress could prove that Donald Trump not only knows who I am, but also that he violently assaulted me in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman and then defamed me by lying about it and impugning my character,” said Carroll in a statement Thursday.

The lab report says several other people were tested and eliminated as possible contributors to the DNA mix, according to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy of the report. Carroll says she's worn the dress only once since the assault.

“The Donna Karan coatdress still hangs on the back of my closet door, unworn and unlaundered since that evening,” said Carroll. She wore the dress again for a photo accompanying the magazine piece. The other DNA on the dress belongs to people who were at the photo shoot.

Carroll said she has not had sexual intercourse with anyone since Trump allegedly assaulted her. Carroll was 52 years old in 1995 while Trump was 49. She accused Trump of raping her in a New York magazine story published on June 21, 2019. She made this same allegation in a book she published in July of that same year.

Carroll said she and Trump met by chance. They talked and went to the lingerie department. Trump told her he wanted to buy a gift for an unidentified woman. She said Trump pinned her against the wall of a dressing room by her arms, reached under the dress, pulled down her tights and raped her as she tried to fight him off. She eventually broke free and ran.

“After Trump sexually assaulted me, I took the black dress I had been wearing and hung it in my closet,” Carroll said in a statement to The Hill. “I only wore it once since then and that was at the photoshoot for the New York Magazine article about my book. Unidentified male DNA on the dress could prove that Donald Trump not only knows who I am, but also that he violently assaulted me in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman and then defamed me by lying about it and impugning my character.”

Oddly, Carroll refuses to call Trump's assault on her a "rape." She explained she didn't want to label this single incident of "three minutes in this little dressing room" as rape due to the prevalence of women being raped. Instead, she described her rape as a "fight" because then she wouldn't be considered a "victim."

The White House and Trump’s lawyer have not responded to the demand for a DNA sample. Trump said Carroll was “totally lying” after she made the rape claim. He said he “never met this person in my life.” A photo taken in 1987, however, shows Trump, Carroll and their then-spouses at a social event.

Carroll sued Trump in November. She claims he smeared her and hurt her career as a longtime Elle magazine advice columnist by calling her a liar. She seeks unspecified damages and Trump's retraction of his statements.