According to The Guardian, during a civil action against former President Donald Trump, E Jean Carroll’s close friend, Lisa Birnbach, testified to a New York jury that she received a panicked call from the advice columnist within moments of Trump allegedly raping her. The incident occurred in the spring of 1996 when Birnbach was feeding her children at home. Carroll called her breathlessly, hyperventilating, and emotional. According to Birnbach, Carroll gave her a brief description of meeting Trump at the entrance to the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, how they decided to shop together, and how Trump pinned her to a changing room wall and assaulted her. Carroll then went on to describe how Trump forced his fingers and then his penis into her vagina.
Upon hearing the details, Birnbach was shocked and suggested that Carroll should go to the police. However, Carroll remained adamant and asked Birnbach to promise her that she would never speak of it again and would tell no one. Birnbach agreed to both promises.
Carroll is suing Trump for battery and defamation, alleging that he raped her in a New York department store changing room in 1996 and called her a liar after she went public about the alleged assault in 2019. Birnbach is one of two women expected to testify that the advice columnist told them about the alleged assault shortly after it occurred.
Birnbach was surprised when Carroll described going into the dressing room with Trump and did not think at the time that Trump was dangerous. However, one of the questions that has hung over the trial is why Carroll chose to call Birnbach immediately after the alleged assault when they were no more than “work friends,” although they now describe themselves as very close. Birnbach believes that Carroll called her because she had recently visited Trump to write an article about his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump flew Birnbach down on his private jet in January 1996, and she stayed two nights at the estate while he gave her a personal tour. The article was published the following month. Another of Carroll’s friends, Carol Martin, is also expected to testify that the advice columnist told her about the alleged rape at the time. Carroll has said that Martin advised her not to go to the police because Trump was a powerful businessman. Carroll said that was the advice she wanted to hear at the time.
Birnbach never spoke to Carroll about the assault again until the advice columnist went public with her allegations against Trump in 2019. Birnbach acknowledged that she has been a fierce and vocal opponent of Trump over the years, calling him an “infection,” a “madman,” a “Russian agent,” and a “malignant sociopath.” She acknowledged feeling “hatred” for the former president but stated that she was testifying because she was Carroll’s friend and wanted the world to know she was telling the truth. The trial continues.
