Stormy Daniels, E Jean Carroll, Fani Willis: The women trying to take down Trump

Stormy Daniels

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In his book, Trump: The Art of the Comeback, Donald Trump stated that individuals can be extremely cruel, especially when it comes to their relationships with those of the opposite gender.

Drawing from his own experiences in both his personal and professional life as well as in his private affairs, the former leader spoke a veritable truth.

A quick look into the past of Donald Trump suggests that his interaction with women was not always smooth (to say the least).

The man has entered into matrimony thrice- but his present spouse, Melania, scarcely accompanies him whilst he gears up for his new run at presidency.

He has been exposed for allegedly engaging in several extramarital affairs, with one particularly noteworthy one involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

He has boasted about his ability to seize women by their private parts - a remark he later dismissed as casual conversation in a locker room.

Furthermore, he has faced multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior from many women, and even had a case where he was held responsible by a group of jurors for the sexual assault of a former Elle columnist named E Jean Carroll.

It's not really shocking or unexpected that the focus of the trial for the first ever current or past US president facing criminal charges is related to his connections with women.

The initial court case of Mr. Trump, which commences on Monday 15 April, involves accusations of creating counterfeit business papers. It is alleged that these papers were used to conceal his purported affairs with several women and portray him as a loyal husband to the public before the 2016 election. The prosecution has charged him with 34 counts of this offense.

This experiment marks the start of something bigger.

Many of the civil and criminal cases against the former president have been centered around women. These women are currently attempting to take down Trump.

Hush Money Case: Stormy Daniels' Saga

The main focus of the situation involving undisclosed payments is related to the involvement of Stormy Daniels who is an actress in adult films. A total amount of $130,000 was given to her to keep quiet about her supposed relationship with Mr. Trump, and she had to sign a document agreeing not to talk about it during the time leading up to the US presidential election in 2016.

During the supposed affair in 2006, Donald Trump was only one year into his marriage with Melania, who is his third and current wife.

It was rumored that he was having an affair and it was revealed in 2018, but this was only after he became President of the United States.

Afterwards, Mr. Trump established a recurrent denial behavior, however, he has altered his position concerning the affair and its correlated payments throughout time.

During the year 2018, the White House initially refused to acknowledge any occurrence of the alleged affair. However, several months later, they confirmed the existence of a non-disclosure agreement between Ms. Daniels and Mr. Trump's lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen. Fast forward to January 2023, and Mr. Trump has taken a new stance on Truth Social in regards to the matter. In his words, "Regarding the 'Stormy' situation, it is an antiquated matter that occurred a significant amount of time ago and long exceeded the publicly acknowledged deadline of the Statute of Limitations."

Although he has expressed different views on the situation, one thing remains unchanged: he frequently resorts to using offensive language and insults towards Ms Daniels.

On various occasions, Mr. Trump has insulted Ms. Daniels by referring to her as "horseface" on social media. The Washington Post had reported in 2018 that he even mentioned to his aides that she wasn't someone he found attractive.

Negative language has become more common within the group of individuals supporting the Republican candidate. In a documentary named Stormy, set to release in 2024, Ms. Daniels claims that these supporters have now also begun to use derogatory terminology towards her, such as "liar," "s***," and "gold digger," which specifically target her gender.

Once Mr. Trump faced criminal accusations, the comments changed from insulting to dangerous, according to her. Among the most shocking messages were "I'll come to your home and cut your throat" and "Your daughter deserves to be put down."

Reflecting on her past, Ms Daniels expressed in the documentary how she felt incredibly frightened in 2016. She admitted feeling a sense of relief when presented with the option to keep her affair with Donald Trump a secret. To feel more secure, she remained glad that there was documented evidence of their dealings with money, making it impossible for Trump to have her silenced through violent means.

Last year, Ms Daniels filed a lawsuit accusing Mr Trump of defamation. However, a judge dismissed the case and ordered Ms Daniels to cover Mr Trump's legal expenses.

Mr. Trump is currently going to court for allegedly paying hush money and he attempted to prevent Ms. Daniels from testifying in the case. However, the judge did not agree with Mr. Trump's efforts, meaning that Ms. Daniels will be able to share her story during her time on the witness stand.

Even though she stated that her sexual experience with Mr. Trump was voluntary, Ms. Daniels disclosed in "Stormy" that she was not inclined to proceed with it.

Even now, I hold myself accountable and refuse to grant myself forgiveness because I didn't stop him from acting inappropriately. If only I had made him reconsider before going after others, I may have relieved myself of guilt. It is especially difficult because I believe that I share fault for any harm he may have caused to other women since me.

Ms Daniels is just one of many women who have spoken out about being subjected to sexual advances from the former president, with some of the allegations being more severe than others. She is not the first nor the last to do so.

"The Infamous Access Hollywood Recording"

Back in 2005, which was one year prior to his supposed affair and the same year he tied the knot with Melania, Mr. Trump was recorded bragging about groping women without their permission in the now notorious "Access Hollywood" recording.

The well-known discussion took place when Donald Trump and Billy Bush, the former host of "Access Hollywood," were preparing to approach actress Arianne Zucker.

The person Mr. Trump was referring to is unknown, however he did confess to attempting to have sexual intercourse with her despite her being married.

Afterwards, he included: "Suddenly, I caught sight of her; she had undergone a massive transformation with fake breasts and an entirely different appearance."

After noticing Ms. Zucker, Mr. Trump commented that he should have some Tic Tacs on hand in case he decides to kiss her. He explained that he has a spontaneous attraction towards beautiful women, and it's almost like he is magnetically pulled towards them. Mr. Trump stated that he doesn't even need to wait for a kiss, it just happens naturally.

"When you reach the status of a celebrity, they allow you to act without any consequences. You have complete freedom to touch another person’s private parts. Your options are limitless." He proceeded to say, "Take hold of their private parts. You have absolute power to do anything."

When the video came back into circulation in 2016, which was before the presidential election, the person who was nominated by the Republican party attempted to downplay his remarks by stating them as mere "locker room talk" and an exchange that happened in private.

After a period of one month, he was chosen as the leader of the United States.

In addition to the arrogant remarks of the ex leader that were recorded, All the President's Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator chronicles 26 supposed cases of "inappropriate physical contact" that Mr. Trump reportedly committed throughout his lifetime.

One of the individuals mentioned in this extensive rundown was E Jean Carroll, a previous columnist for Elle magazine.

"E. Jean Carroll's Sexual Abuse"

E Jean Carroll penned an article in June 2019 alleging that the ex-president sexually assaulted her at the Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan in the 1990s.

Upon being accused, Mr. Trump immediately denied the allegations and showed anger, claiming that she was falsifying the claims. He resorted to his commonly used tactic of insulting women, stating that Ms. Carroll was not the kind of woman he would be interested in.

In November of that same year, Ms Carroll brought a defamation lawsuit against him. Another lawsuit was filed against him by Ms Carroll in November 2022.

Mr Trump persistently denied any interaction with her and thus denied the accusation of sexually assaulting her. However, a photograph contradicted his statement and a group of jurors also concluded that he had indeed committed the assault.

Back in May 2023, the previous leader was held accountable for committing sexual abuse and defamation. As a result, Ms. Carroll was granted over $83 million in reparations. Despite this decision, the former president is still challenging the accusations and has put up a bond in order to appeal the verdicts.

According to Ms Carroll, whenever the ex-head of state would make online remarks regarding her or her accusations, it would result in a "flood of muck." Furthermore, despite Ms Carroll winning a defamation lawsuit against him, the former president still refers to her as a liar.

In March of this year, Mr. Trump made a statement admitting that he had put up a $91 million bond to quash a fabricated story. The story had no basis in reality and was completely untrue. The allegations made against him by a woman he claimed to have never met or heard about were totally false. He had no knowledge of her or the accusations she made against him.

Ms Carroll wasn't the only one facing the attacks, as they also targeted her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan.

Ms Kaplan alleged in February that during a deposition, Mr Trump utilized a widely recognized coded language to refer to her as a derogatory term.

She stated that she was not acquainted with the expression.

"If I had been aware, I would have definitely expressed my anger," mentioned Ms Kaplan. "I appeared to be behaving superior but in reality, I was clueless. I simply lacked the knowledge."

Women Hitting Him With The Law: Fani Willis & Letitia James

Apart from the women who have faced Mr. Trump directly, the ex-president also has a tendency to criticize the women who, as some of the most accomplished prosecutors in the country, have endeavored to hold him accountable for his actions through legal means.

Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, is currently pursuing a large RICO case against the former president and several of his associates. Unfortunately, she has been the target of disrespectful nicknames and negative posts on the social media platform called Truth Social.

Mr. Trump has frequently accused the Black woman of being a racist, all the while making statements that could be perceived as racist towards her.

In a speech given in August in New Hampshire, Mr Trump talked about a person in Atlanta who was described as being prejudice against certain groups of people. According to him, this individual was investigating a particular gang, but ended up becoming involved romantically with either the leader or a member of the gang. He was referring to Nathan Wade, who was her former partner and the prosecutor on the case.

Even Mr. Trump and his fellow defendants attempted to oust her from the lawsuit entirely.

Following a prolonged sequence of discussions, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Ms Willis and her team would be allowed to continue with the case only if Mr Wade stepped down from his position. Consequently, Mr Wade resigned from his role.

Mr. Trump and his fellow defendants have challenged the decision made by Judge McAfee through an appeal process.

Ms Willis is facing attacks that have a two-sided blade. During a church service speech on Martin Luther King holiday weekend, Ms Willis accused Mr Trump and his legal team of using the "race card" due to the fact that both Ms Willis and Mr Wade are Black. She highlighted the fact that the white private attorneys hired by her office have not been subjected to similar scrutiny.

Mr. Trump's team fired back, claiming that Ms. Willis was injecting racial prejudice to divert attention away from the alleged misconduct.

Mr Trump has made comparable criticisms towards Letitia James, who is a Black female lawyer in New York. She was responsible for pursuing a huge legal case alleging civil fraud against Mr Trump.

The ex-leader has labeled her as a "racist," a "wildly crazy person," and a "left-wing extremist." He has also nicknamed her "Peekaboo," causing some people to accuse Mr. Trump of being racist because the word rhymes with a derogatory term used against African Americans.

Can These Women Defeat Trump?

This is a common sequence of claims made by women and then met with hostile, confrontational reactions from Mr. Trump.

However, what occurs afterward? Is it possible for these women to truly bring down Trump?

The outcome of the E Jean Carroll trial was severe: a group of people determined that a previous leader of the United States had committed sexual assault.

However, the occurrence did not transpire in a court of law dealing with criminal cases.

When the day came to an end, the only consequences Mr Trump had to deal with in that particular situation was a monetary penalty.

Even though he has been accused of sexual abuse and defamation, he is still allowed to run for president. Also, his base appears to continue supporting him without any issue, as evidenced by how easily he beat other Republican contenders in the primaries.

The general public has made their decision: he has been identified as the probable Republican candidate for the 2024 elections.

Although Ms Carroll triumphed in her lawsuit, it alone is insufficient to bring down Donald Trump in the battle between women and him. This ruling could be seen as a significant moment in the long-running case.

It is still uncertain whether these cases and the women associated with them can effectively achieve the desired outcome.

Letitia James took Mr Trump to court for civil fraud, and many people were waiting for the outcome. The court found Mr Trump, his two adult sons, and some of his businesses guilty of fraud. They were told to pay $464m as punishment. However, the court gave Mr Trump a discount on his fine, reducing it to $175m. They also gave him some extra time to pay the bond, which is the amount of money you have to pay upfront before going ahead with the appeal.

Currently, the attention has shifted towards Stormy Daniels and the commencement of the primary criminal proceeding against Mr. Trump.

Finally, Ms Daniels may have the opportunity to recount her story in a courtroom, free from the disruptive and abusive language of Mr Trump.

In case Mr. Trump is found guilty, he might end up in prison for the charges against him. Even if he receives a pardon from the president, it won't protect him from imprisonment.

However, there are no regulations preventing Donald Trump from running for president or holding office while being imprisoned.

Therefore, as these females strive to combat Trump, the consequences of his behavior towards and image among women may ultimately manifest on November 5th.

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