Updated June 1, 1993 Civil Rights
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern
Ivana Trump's Rape Allegation Against Donald Trump — Deposition Testimony
Ivana Trump's deposition account described a violent sexual assault during their marriage: Trump had been infuriated by the pain from a scalp surgery and, Ivana said, tore out her hair, pinned her to the bed, and raped her. The account appeared in Harry Hurt III's 'Lost Tycoon' (1993). Ivana issued a statement walking back the word 'rape,' saying she did not use it in a criminal sense but used the word in an 'emotional, not literal sense.' Trump's attorney Michael Cohen, when the account was reported in the press during the 2016 campaign, threatened a reporter and falsely stated that 'you cannot rape your spouse' — a claim that was wrong under New York law even then.