Judge seeks to learn whether Trump will go to his rape trial

By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge wants to know if ex-President Donald Trump plans to attend a New York trial this month resulting from a columnist’s claims that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued an order Monday directing that parties to the case inform him by April 20 whether they will be present throughout the trial. The trial is scheduled to start April 25 in Manhattan federal court. A writer, E. Jean Carroll, sued Trump in November, saying he raped her in early 1996 after a chance meeting at an upscale store. He denies it.