Human Rights

Melania Is Going to be Horribly Upset When She Hears What Was Said About Her in Trump’s Rape Trial

Her testimony was harrowing, and she wept as she recounted that Donald Trump allegedly sexually assaulted her while she was on assignment at Mar-a-Lago to report on his and Melania Trump’s first wedding anniversary in 2005. And when Melania hears what was said, it will have to hurt…how could it not? But journalist Natasha Stoynoff steeled herself when she took the witness stand Wednesday, The Independent reports.

Stoynoff testified at Trump’s civil rape and defamation trial to support writer E. Jean Carroll, who alleges she was raped by Trump in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a department store in New York City in 1996.

The former writer for People magazine told the jury Trump asked to show her a room at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach residence between conducting interviews with him and his wife Melania, who was pregnant with their son Barron at the time.

“I hear the door shut behind me, by the time I turn around he has his hands on my shoulder, pushing me up against the wall and he starts kissing me,” Stoynoff told the jury.

Stoynoff, a freelance journalist, author, and scriptwriter, who now calls Canada home, added she felt “flustered and in shock” as she tried to push Trump away.

The alleged encounter lasted a few moments, but then (fortunately) was interrupted when a butler entered the room.

“I gave (the butler) a ‘get me out of here look,” Stoynoff said.

But Trump was not easily discouraged.

As they made their way back to meet with Melania, Stoynoff told the jury that Trump told her: “You know we’re going to have an affair. Don’t forget what Marla Maples (his second wife) said, ‘Best sex I ever had.'”

Ugh. Creepy and disgusting. Again, how must Melania feel hearing that. On her first wedding anniversary, as she was PREGNANT, her “husband” was assaulting another woman, and bragging about how his ex-wife said he was the best sex she had ever had. Shudder.

As she remembered all this, Stoynoff became emotional on the stand, telling the jury she was in a state and unable to speak.

“I choked up, I couldn’t answer him,” she said.

When they sat with Melania, Trump “doted” on his wife, Stoynoff added.

And as she interviewed the couple, she said she went on “autopilot” and tried to pretend the incident never happened as she concluded the interview.

While she told her former journalism professor and newsroom supervisor at People at the time, she never mentioned it to anyone higher up because she didn’t want to cause problems for the magazine.

Stoynoff finally decided to go public about the alleged incident in an essay for the magazine. When the Access Hollywood tape emerged, it left her feeling “horrified.” Trump was caught on a hot mic bragging about sexually assaulting women. The tape was recorded in 2005 and emerged right before the 2016 presidential election.

The jury was shown the two-minute clip, where Trump says he “automatically” starts kissing women he’s attracted to. “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it,” he said. “You can do anything.”

Just a few days later, when Trump appeared with Hillary Clinton at a presidential debate, Trump denied ever forcibly kissing women without their consent after moderator Anderson Cooper asked him a direct question about that.

Watching his denials, Stoynoff told the jury she became “sick to her stomach,” and talked to her editors at People about publishing her first-hand account.

“I actually thought to myself, ‘Oh he does this to a lot of women,’ it’s not just about me, it’s not something I did.”

“The horrible part was I worried that because I did not say anything that at the time other women were hurt by him. So I had regret there,” she said.

“I thought to myself, ‘You liar.’ I just felt really upset that he was lying to the American people.”

Carroll’s attorneys then played a short clip from a Trump campaign rally in October 2016 where Trump denied the claim and disparaged Stoynoff. Then Mike Ferrara, an attorney for Carroll asked her if she understood what Trump meant when he was talking, she said: “I’m assuming he means that I’m unattractive.”

The former People writer said she was assigned the “Trump beat” in 2003 and remembers interviewing the then-reality TV host 10 times before the horrifying situation at Mar-a-Lago. He did ask her out to dinner at one point, she remembered but had not tried to force himself on her before.

The jury then viewed portions of Trump’s videotaped deposition and he once again claimed Carroll “made up” the allegations that he raped her in the department store in 1996.

Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told the court Wednesday that the defense would not be calling any witnesses. Trump said early on that he wouldn’t appear and the one expert witness they had on hand wasn’t going to appear either.

Carroll’s attorneys rested their case Thursday afternoon and the jury will begin deliberations after closing arguments on Monday. She is seeking damages for defamation and battery. alleging her reputation was “destroyed” when Trump described her claims as a “con job” in a post on Truth Social last October.

Seems to me like Trump knows more about “con jobs” than E. Jean Carroll does. As a journalist, she almost certainly knows she could get in deep trouble if this was all a lie. She’d have to be remarkably stupid not to know that.

The only “con job” here is Trump. He’s conned the American people and lots of innocent women.

meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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