Former PEOPLE Writer and Donald Trump Accuser Testifies in E. Jean Carroll's Rape and Defamation Case (2024)

Former PEOPLE writer Natasha Stoynoff took the stand Wednesday in the rape and defamation case against Donald Trump. Stoynoff served as a witness for former Elle advice columnist and TV host E. Jean Carroll, who has sued the former president, alleging rape and defamation.

Stoynoff has previously alleged that Trump assaulted her in December 2005 while she was at Mar-a-Lago to interview him and his wife, a then-pregnant Melania Trump, for a story.

Speaking under oath on Wednesday, Stoynoff said Trump "came toward me again, and I tried to shove him again. He was kissing me, he was up against me. He was holding my shoulders back."

As she detailed in a firsthand account for PEOPLE, Stoynoff alleges the incident took place during a break from interviewing both Trump and his wife "about how happy their first year of marriage had been."

"When we took a break for the then-very-pregnant Melania to go upstairs and change wardrobe for more photos, Donald wanted to show me around the mansion," Stoynoff wrote. "There was one 'tremendous' room in particular, he said, that I just had to see."

She continued: "We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat."

According to Stoynoff, she was thrown off balance before "Trump's longtime butler burst into the room a minute later, as I tried to unpin myself."

Later that same day, Stoynoff says Trump told her, "You know we're going to have an affair, don't you?" before asking, "Have you ever been to Peter Luger's for steaks? I'll take you. We're going to have an affair, I'm telling you."

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On Wednesday, she reiterated that story, saying she didn't scream or tell Trump to stop because she was in shock.

"I didn't say words I couldn't, I tried, I was just flustered, I was sort of shocked," she said.

While Stoynoff said she told several close friends and colleagues about the incident in its aftermath, she did not go public with the story until years later, writing in a 2019 op-ed for The Washington Post, "After the election, I told myself his supporters hadn't believed" the other accusers.

On Wednesday, she said part of the reason she decided to come forward with her story was hearing the now-infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump said he grabbed women "by the p---y."

Trump has since denied Stoynoff's allegations, claiming he never met her, despite photographic evidence of her interview with him and Melania.

Carroll's lawyers earlier said that Stoynoff and another woman who has claimed Trump assaulted her — Jessica Leeds — would act as witnesses to bolster Carroll's account. In an in-depth report released by The New York Times in 2016, Leeds — now in her 70s — charged that Trump physically violated her aboard a plane over 35 years ago.

The suit being litigated was filed by Carroll, 79, in New York, and alleges battery and defamation under the state's Adult Survivors Act, which creates a one-year lookback window for survivors of sexual abuse to file claims otherwise barred by the statute of limitations.

In her suit — filed on Thanksgiving Day 2022 in the U.S. Southern District of New York — the writer alleges: "Roughly 27 years ago, playful banter at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue in New York City took a dark turn when Defendant Donald J. Trump seized Plaintiff E. Jean Carroll, forced her up against a dressing room wall, pinned her in place with his shoulder, and raped her."

The suit further alleges that Carroll "remained silent for over two decades" for fear of being buried in "threats and lawsuits" and damage to her reputation and livelihood.

The suit claims that the incident "severely injured Carroll, causing significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological harms, loss of dignity, and invasion of her privacy" and seeks "redress for her injuries and to demonstrate that even a man as powerful as Trump can be held accountable under the law."

If Carroll wins the trial, it will be the first time Trump — who has been accused of sexual assault by several women — is held legally responsible for sexual misconduct.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.