Witness says E Jean Carroll called her ‘hyperventilating’ after alleged rape by Trump

A close friend of E Jean Carroll has told a New York jury that she received a distressed call from the advice columnist within minutes of Donald Trump allegedly raping her.

Lisa Birnbach testified at Carroll’s civil action against the former president on Tuesday that she was feeding her children at home when Carroll called “breathless, hyperventilating, emotional” in the spring of 1996.

“She said: ‘Lisa, you’re not going to believe what happened to me’,” she said.

Birnbach, a magazine writer and editor, described Carroll giving a brief description of meeting Trump at the entrance to the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman and how they decided to shop together. Birnbach said that Carroll then described Trump pinning her to a changing room wall and assaulting her.

“E Jean said to me many times: ‘He pulled down my tights, he pulled down my tights,’ almost like she couldn’t believe it had just happened to her,” she said.

Birnbach said Carroll then described Trump forcing first his fingers and then his penis into her vagina.

“As soon as she said that, even though I knew my children didn’t know the word, I ducked out of the room and I whispered: ‘E Jean, he raped you, you should go to the police’. She said: ‘No, no I don’t want to go to the police.’ I said: ‘He raped you. I’ll take you to the police,’” Birnbach recounted.

Birnbach said that Carroll remained adamant.

“She said: ‘promise me you will never speak of this again and promise me you will tell no one,’” Birnbach testified. “And I promised both of those things.”

Carroll, 79, is suing Trump for battery for allegedly raping her in a New York department store changing room in 1996, and for defamation for calling 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 said she was stunned when Carroll described going into the dressing room with Trump.

“I was surprised that she did that,” Birnbach said. “I thought it was kind of nutty.”

But Birnbach added that she did not think at the time that Trump was dangerous.

One of the questions that has hung over the trial was why Carroll chose to call Birnbach immediately after the alleged assault when the two were no more than “work friends”, although they now describe themselves as very close.

Birnbach said she believes it was because a few months earlier she had visited Trump to write an article about his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Birnbach said she met Trump at a party in 1995, and he asked if she would be interested in seeing Mar-a-Lago.

“He called me about once a month for five or six months to make sure I still wanted to write the article,” she said.

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.

“I believe E Jean called me, of all her friends and acquaintances, because she knew I had just been at Mar-a-Lago,” she said.

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 said she never spoke to Carroll about the assault again until the advice columnist went public with her allegations against Trump in 2019.

“It was her life, her story, not my story. She clearly didn’t want to tell anyone what happened and I honoured that,” she said.

Birnbach said she “worked not to think about it”.

“I buried it,” she said. “As life went on, it was easier not to think about it.”

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.

Asked why she was testifying, Birnbach said: “I’m here because I’m her friend and I want the world to know she’s telling the truth.”

The trial continues.

• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html.