E. Jean Carroll has accused former President Trump of raping her in a dressing room in the 1990s. Trump was asked about the claim and denied having ever met Carroll.

Wow. The White House issues a statement from President Trump denying writer E. Jean Carroll's claim that he assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman 20 years ago. "I’ve never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book…"https://t.co/z2pFp8X9Ni pic.twitter.com/iNu6SGDq7G

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 21, 2019

A few months later, Carroll sued Trump for defamation. The suit argued that Trump had defamed Carroll when he denied the allegations and called her a liar. The suit has dragged on since then but today Carroll’s attorneys announced a change in strategy.

Roberta Kaplan, who represents Carroll, told reporters after a nearly one-hour federal court hearing Tuesday that they changed their minds given the former President’s history of litigation and a desire to go to trial as quickly as possible.

Kaplan is still seeking a sample of Trump’s DNA, however…

On Tuesday, Carroll told reporters she would “never settle” the lawsuit, saying she is fighting not just for herself but for all women who have been assaulted.

But while they are giving up on the deposition, Carroll’s lawyers still want Trump’s DNA:

As the parties resolve procedural issues, Kaplan emphasized that her team obtain Trump’s DNA to test whether it matches the genetic material that she says was left on her dress at the time of the alleged incident.

It’s interesting that they are claiming there’s DNA on the dress Carroll wore that day because in an interview she gave back in 2019 Carroll said she had no idea if there was any DNA on the dress:

Today’s hearing was based on an attempt by Trump’s lawyers to countersue Carroll. Law & Crime reports that effort didn’t go over very well with the judge.

Skewering the ex-president’s lawyers during oral arguments stretching roughly an hour, the judge appeared inclined to reject that effort…

[Judge Lewis] Kaplan punctuated one of his points to [Trump’s lawyer Alina] Habba by stating “as anyone who went to law school would know” and even critiqued the New Jersey-based attorney’s rapid-fire style of delivery.

“If you spoke any faster, it would be simply a blur,” Kaplan told Habba.

It doesn’t appear that this case is going away anytime soon. Now that the request for a deposition has been dropped, will it move more quickly?