Trump lawyer: ‘You can’t rape your spouse’
Marital rape is illegal in all 50 states. But according to Michael Cohen, special counsel at The Trump Organization, “you cannot rape your spouse.’’
Hmm.
Cohen made the comment in a Daily Beast article detailing how, in the early ’90s, Ivana Trump once used the word “rape’’ to describe an incident between her and her now ex-husband.
Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Boston.com. But he did quickly distance himself from the claims, and released an apology statement to CNN, in which he said “Rarely am I surprised by the press, but the gall of this particular reporter to make such a reprehensible and false allegation against Mr. Trump truly stunned me. In my moment of shock and anger, I made an inarticulate comment – which I do not believe — and which I apologize for entirely.’’
In his 1993 book Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump, Harry Hurt III quotes a deposition from the couple’s court proceedings when describing how Trump lashed out against his wife after he underwent a painful surgery to remove a bald spot. Ivana had used the same plastic surgeon.
What followed was a “violent assault,’’ according to Lost Tycoon. Donald held back Ivana’s arms and began to pull out fistfuls of hair from her scalp, as if to mirror the pain he felt from his own operation. He tore off her clothes and unzipped his pants.
“Then he jams his penis inside her for the first time in more than sixteen months. Ivana is terrified… It is a violent assault,’’ Hurt writes. “According to versions she repeats to some of her closest confidantes, ‘he raped me.’’’
Trump has denied both the rape allegation and scalp reduction surgery. Cohen said in the interview that he hadn’t read the entire deposition, but had read “two relevant pages,’’ including the rape allegation. Based on what he’d read, Cohen said Ivana was referring to her emotional state, not the criminal act of rape. It was then that he said legally, a man cannot rape his wife.
When the Daily Beast’s Tim Mak pointed out that New York struck down its marital rape exemption to the law in 1984, Cohen freaked out.
“I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,’’ Cohen said. “So I’m warning you, tread very fucking lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be fucking disgusting. You understand me?’’
“You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up… for as long as you’re on this frickin’ planet… you’re going to have judgments against you, so much money, you’ll never know how to get out from underneath it,’’ he added.
Since the article was published, Ivana also distanced herself from the allegations.
“I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit. Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign. Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president,’’ she said in the statement, which was also published by CNN.
Trump is currently the leading Republican candidate.
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