On Friday, a federal judge rejected former president Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss a civil sexual assault lawsuit—in which writer E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s in a Manhattan department store—and unsealed excerpts of their depositions, which are nothing short of shocking. 

In his deposition, the former president seemingly misconstrued what Carroll said in a June 2019 interview with Anderson Cooper, in which she described trying not to call her encounter with Trump a “rape” because “I think most people think of rape as being sexy.”

“She actually indicated that she loved it. Okay?” Trump said in the deposition. “In fact, I think she said it was sexy, didn’t she? She said it was very sexy to be raped.” 

Carroll’s lawyer then clarified, “So, sir, I just want to confirm: It’s your testimony that E. Jean Carroll said that she loved being sexually assaulted by you?” Trump replied, “Well, based on her interview with Anderson Cooper, I believe that’s what took place.”

Trump has consistently denied the incident took place and denied knowing the former Elle advice columnist—despite the fact that the pair appeared in a photo together. “She’s accusing me of rape, a woman that I have no idea who she is. It came out of the blue. She’s accusing me of raping her, the worst thing you can do, the worst charge,” Trump said. He also described the writer as a “nut job” and “mentally sick.”

Carroll sued Trump on November 24 for battery (she also sued Trump in 2019 for defamation) under the Adult Survivors Act (ASA). In May 2022, New York passed the ASA, which offers sexual assault survivors an opportunity to pursue civil action in New York, even if the statute of limitations has expired.

In a motion to dismiss the case, Trump’s legal team argued that the ASA violates the right to due process and, thus a violation of New York’s constitution. 

In his opinion, Judge Lewis Kaplan said Trump’s argument was “absurd,” explaining that “the New York Legislature long has recognized the problem created by what it characterized as a ‘culture of silence’ and the existence of comparatively short limitations periods for bringing civil and criminal actions for sexual assaults and other sexual offenses.” Judge Kaplan also made parts of the transcript public, despite Trump’s objections.

In her deposition, Carroll said: “I lost my job. I’m looked at as a woman who’s untrustworthy, looked at now as a woman who can’t be believed. I’m looked at as a woman who was stupid and dumb enough to have happened to her what happened to her.”

“It is a hoax and a lie just like all the other hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years,” Trump said during his deposition. 

“I will sue her after this is over, and that’s the thing I really look forward to doing,” Trump said about Carroll.