While Donald Trump was running for president and serving as president, more than a dozen women publicly accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Most of those allegations, all denied by Trump, have never been brought to trial. No one has been brought to justice. But that’s going to change.

Jury selection began Tuesday in the rape case of E. Jean Carroll in a New York federal court. The former Elle magazine advice columnist alleges Trump raped her in an upscale department store locker room in the mid-1990s.

Carroll’s civil case has taken a tortuous road to court. It now comes as Trump attempts to return to the White House and fight a series of legal issues, including his recent indictment on charges of falsifying his company’s records to conceal hush money payments to a porn star.

Here’s a look at the case and some key questions:

What is it about?

Carroll says a chance encounter with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman in 1995 or 1996 suddenly turned into sexual assault. According to her lawsuit, Trump led her to a fitting room after they joked about trying on a bodysuit, then pinned her against the wall and forced himself on her as she tried to break free.

She said she eventually knelt him off and ran out of the store. Two of Carroll’s friends have said she told them about the alleged attack shortly afterward. She never notified the police or anyone else until she told the story in a 2019 memoir and magazine excerpt. (The Associated Press usually doesn’t name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll did.)

What does Trump say happened?

Nothing. She said I did something to her that never happened. There was nothing, Trump said when Carroll’s lawyers questioned him under oath in October. He denies even bumping into her at the store and has accused her of making up the story to sell her book. When her account was first published, Trump said he had no idea who she was, shrugging off a photo showing the two and their then-husbands interacting at a 1987 social event. photo again during his October hearing, Trump falsely identified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples. His former ex, the late Ivana Trump, is pictured.

Are there eyewitnesses? Forensic evidence?

Carroll’s legal team says there were no eyewitnesses to the alleged attack and any security video has long since disappeared. For years, Carroll tried to test Trump’s DNA on unidentified male genetic material found on a dress she said she wore and never washed. His lawyers fought her request for a sample for a long time until February, when they offered a deal: To refute her claim, he would provide the sample if her lawyers handed over the full DNA report on the dress. The judge said it was too late. Jurors don’t hear about the DNA and the dress at all.

Will Trump be present at the trial?

His presence is not required and does not seem likely. Trump’s lawyers have said he wants to attend, but the security required for such an appearance would be a burden on the city and the court. For his part, the judge has expressed confidence that Trump can be protected at the lower Manhattan courthouse, where security is already tight.

Even if Trump is not there, jurors will hear from him via video of his interrogation last fall. Carroll, meanwhile, plans to be present and testify every day, according to her lawyers.

Is there a possibility of criminal prosecution?

No. The legal deadline for filing criminal charges has long passed.

So why is this civil case now in court?

It’s complicated. When Carroll first came forward, the time limit was for a rape charge

case

had expired. But after Trump responded to her accusations by saying she wasn’t my type and totally lying, Carroll filed a libel suit against him in 2019. and claim that Trump’s comments were part of his job as president, an argument that could have sunk the defamation claim.

That question is now before the court. But in the meantime, New York gave people a chance to press charges of sexual abuse long ago. Carroll was one of the first to do this. (Her case, however, remained in federal court.) And Trump continued to publicly portray Carroll as a liar, which has become the basis of a new defamation claim that will also be heard at trial.

What does Carroll want?

A withdrawal and unspecified damages.

What about the other women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct?

Two of them have to testify in Carroll’s case. Jurors are also expected to hear the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood hot-mic recording of Trump rudely bragging that fame gave him carte blanche to kiss and grope women. Not involved in the case are two other women who sued Trump after going public with allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances. Those cases were rejected or dropped.