Trump lawyer asks E. Jean Carroll about ‘SVU’ episode at trial

Donald Trump’s lawyer appeared to imply E. Jean Carroll got the idea for her rape allegations against the former president from an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” — but she denied seeing it, calling the coincidence “astonishing” during testimony Monday.

Carroll — who was back on the stand in Manhattan federal court for her civil rape trial against Trump — was asked by his attorney Joe Tacopina if she knew her account of the alleged 1996 attack was very similar to a brief plot line in a 2012 episode of the popular NBC show.

The 79-year-old former journalist testified she was “aware” of the episode but, “I haven’t seen it.”

A brief moment of the episode — titled “Theatre and Tricks” — involves a character talking about role-playing a rape fantasy in Bergdorf Goodman.

“Role-play took place in the dressing room of Bergdorf’s. While she was trying on lingerie I would burst in,” the character says.

Carroll, in her lawsuit, claims that the former commander-in-chief raped her in a fitting room in the lingerie section of the Fifth Avenue department store most likely in 1996. Trump, 76, denies the allegations.

Hearing the parallels between what allegedly happened to her and the line in the show “was amazing to me,” Carroll told jurors.

“An amazing coincidence?” Tacopina asked.

“Yes, it’s astonishing,” Carroll said.

Carroll told jurors that she loves “Law & Order” but said she doesn’t watch “SVU” because of how violent the spin-off is.

Her lawyer, Michael Ferrara, later Monday asked Carroll: “Are you making up your allegation based on a popular TV show?”

“No. No,” she responded.

The testimony came out during Carroll’s third day on the witness stand since trial began last week. Trump has not been present in court during trial.

Earlier Monday, Tacopina asked Carroll why she never sued former CBS head Les Moonves after he denied her claim that he once sexually assaulted her in an elevator.

“He simply denied it,” Carroll explained of Moonves.

“He didn’t call me any names. He didn’t say I was an operative of the democratic party. He didn’t say I was running a scam,” she continued. “He didn’t grind my face into the mud like Donald Trump did.”

In addition to the rape claim, Carroll is also suing Trump for allegedly defaming her when he denied knowing her and called her accusations a “hoax” she made up for money and to help boost sales of her 2019 book.

The jury was shown a clip of the the New York Magazine “Ask E. Jean” advice columnist’s interview with Anderson Cooper from June 24, 2019, when she told the CNN host that she preferred to refer to the alleged incident with Trump as a “fight” rather than a “rape.”

“I was aware of how much sexual violence there is in the world and I felt lucky to have gotten out alive and to be able to tell my story,” Carroll told jurors of her interview. “I liked the word fight because it gave me action.”

Tacopina grilled Carroll about telling Cooper that rape is sexy and a fantasy that some people have.

“Rape is everywhere in our entertainment because it excites people and draws an audience,” Carroll said in response, citing the example of frequent sexual violence depicted in hit HBO show “Game of Thrones.”

Still, she said she personally feels, “Rape is the most horrible violent act that can be done against a woman or a man.”

Tacopina also asked Carroll about frequently publicly saying that her life is “fabulous” — noting she previously told jurors about the devastating effects that the alleged rape had on her love life and the damage that Trump’s denials had on her career and credibility as a journalist.

Carroll explained that in public she doesn’t “want anybody to know that I suffer.” But, “in this courtroom, I’m being forced to tell the truth.”

“Up until now, I would be ashamed to know people know what’s actually going on,” she said.

Later, Carroll became emotional when asked by her attorney about how bringing the lawsuit against Trump had given her some control back in her life.

“Instead of living with the feeling of shame which I have always covered up, living with the feeling that I caused this horrible thing to happen, by telling my story I started to take a little bit of control and it’s been a long way and this is a very satisfying moment for me to be here to answer your questions,” she said.

Before the jury was brought in Monday morning, Manhattan federal judge Lewis Kaplan denied Trump’s bid for mistrial in the case on the basis of alleged “prejudicial rulings.”

Carroll’s testimony concluded Monday afternoon.