The Trump Rape Trial Enters its Final Phase

The Trump rape trial enters its final phase

Lawyers delivered closing arguments today in E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of battery and defamation. The jury in Manhattan will begin deliberating tomorrow.

Carroll, a former columnist for Elle magazine, accused Trump of raping her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a department store, in the mid-1990s.

Trump did not testify nor did he attend the two-week trial.

“The last few days really highlighted the gravity of a former president being on trial for a civil rape allegation,” said my colleague Kate Christobek. “Carroll’s attorneys started showing more footage of Trump at rallies, during debates and during his deposition, and you could start feeling his presence in the courtroom, even if he wasn’t physically here.”

In closing arguments a lawyer for Carroll, reminded the jury that no one, not even a former president, is above the law. Trump’s lawyers, who called no witnesses, portrayed the accusations as improbable because the store was a public place and Trump was already famous at the time.

The jury will now consider whether Trump should be found liable. If he is, he may have to pay monetary damages and retract statements he made disparaging Carroll and her case.

Trump is still the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The trial, as well other legal cases against Trump, have yet to create significant political problems for him.

Searching for motive in a Texas shooting

Investigators are trying to learn why a gunman fatally shot at least eight people at a mall in Allen, Texas, yesterday. A social media profile believed to be his, on the Russian site OK.RU, is rife with hate-filled rants against women and Black people and includes language praising Hitler. Two law enforcement officials said the man identified as the gunman, Mauricio Garcia, appeared to espouse white supremacist ideology.

Evacuation orders sow confusion in Ukraine

As fighting intensifies before an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, Russian officials in some occupied areas are ordering residents to leave. People living in the areas have described an atmosphere of confusion as gas stations run dry, grocery store shelves empty and A.T.M.s run out of cash.

In Zaporizhzhia, where few people appeared to be heeding the evacuation orders, there was no indication of any Russians troops withdrawing, according to Ukrainian officials and Western analysts. They said Moscow’s troops continue to expand defensive fortifications, a sign that they are digging in for coming battles.

A plan for reparations

A California panel approved recommendations over the weekend that could mean hundreds of billions of dollars in payments to Black residents to address past injustices. The panel, which is made up of elected officials, academics and lawyers, produced a detailed plan for how restitution should be handled to address many racist harms, including housing discrimination, mass incarceration and unequal access to health care. But it will be up to legislators to weigh the recommendations and decide whether to forge them into law.

More top news

Americans’ distaste for wobble and goo

Complex taste sensations — like the prolonged chewiness of tripe or the thick slickness of okra — play a crucial role in food around the world. But these complicated textures have long been shunned by many in the U.S., where people tend to gravitate toward crunchy and creamy.

That could have something to do with the way certain textures, like crunchiness, may have bestowed an evolutionary advantage on early humans as a marker of freshness in food. Or it could be a byproduct of the spread of prepackaged, processed foods, which strip out both fuss and complexity.

And yet, my colleagues at T Magazine report, Americans today are beginning to move away from complacency, toward more dramatic sensations in food.

Seasonal allergies and mental health

Allergies can affect our sleep, energy levels, sense of smell, mental sharpness and productivity — and, in turn, our mental well-being. A growing body of research shows a link between these allergies and mood disorders like anxiety and depression, and a higher risk of psychiatric disorders in adults.

Here’s how to get help if you need it.

Dinner table topics

Spoiler alert: Spoilers don’t spoil everything

In today’s polarized era, one point of basic civility stands unchallenged: You don’t mention pivotal plot points to someone who hasn’t seen the TV show or movie yet. Doing so, the thinking goes, will ruin that person’s enjoyment.

But new research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology suggests that this may not be true. Researchers found that audiences who knew the outcome of a television show were just as immersed in the narrative as viewers going in cold, and they reported the same levels of engagement and enjoyment. That’s perhaps because humans are hard-wired not just to take in facts but also to lose themselves in stories and characters — even when they know the ending.

Have an absorbing evening.