Did Donald Trump participate in a deposition August 18, 2009?
Executive summary
Available court records and news reporting identify a videotaped deposition Donald Trump gave on October 19, 2022, in the E. Jean Carroll civil case; multiple primary sources (the deposition transcript and video) and news outlets confirm that date [1] [2] [3]. Contemporary reporting and document dumps about Jeffrey Epstein include an email that reportedly scheduled “Mr. Trump’s deposition … August 18, 2009,” but the claim comes from secondary reporting about Epstein files and is not corroborated by the public court record of Trump depositions in the sources provided [4] [5].
1. What the official public record shows: a 2022 videotaped deposition
The public, court-produced videotape and transcript of Trump’s deposition in E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit identify the deposition date as October 19, 2022; C-SPAN’s posting of that deposition and the transcript hosted on a document repository both state that date explicitly [1] [2]. News organizations that ran the video when it was released — including the BBC and AP — also cite the October 2022 deposition shown to jurors in May 2023, reinforcing that the documented, widely distributed deposition occurred in 2022 [6] [3].
2. Where the August 18, 2009 date appears and why it matters
An online item summarizing comments by Representative Stansbury quotes an apparent 2009 paralegal email stating “Mr. Trump’s deposition is scheduled for August 18, 2009” in connection with litigation tied to Jeffrey Epstein; that summary is the clearest place among the provided sources that mentions the August 18, 2009 scheduling line [4]. Politifact and other reporting that examined the released Epstein-related documents note various references to Trump across those records, but they do not document a produced videotaped or court-filed Trump deposition on that 2009 date in the materials cited here [5].
3. Conflicting documentary weight: internal emails vs. court deposition
The email cited in the Epstein-file reporting is an internal, context-dependent line within a large collection of documents and depositions tied to Epstein matters; such items can note subpoenas, scheduled appearances, or draft plans that do not always result in a formal, recorded deposition entered into the public docket [4] [5]. By contrast, the October 19, 2022 videotaped deposition is an official court proceeding with publicly available video and transcript — a higher evidentiary threshold in public reporting and legal record [1] [2].
4. What the sources do not say (and why that matters)
Available sources do not show a publicly filed videotaped or transcribed Donald Trump deposition that took place on August 18, 2009; the public deposition materials and major news coverage point to the October 2022 proceeding instead [1] [2] [3]. The Epstein-file email mentioning an August 18, 2009 schedule is reported secondhand in the Crooks and Liars piece and summarized in other accounts, but none of the provided reporting reproduces a court transcript or video from a 2009 Trump deposition to confirm he actually sat for one that day [4] [5].
5. Competing interpretations and possible hidden agendas
One interpretation: the 2009 email reflects a genuine scheduling attempt or subpoena related to Epstein litigation, which could mean Trump was at some point expected to be deposed in those matters [4]. An alternative interpretation: emails and internal notes sometimes memorialize planned appearances that are later canceled, withdrawn or superseded; absent a public transcript or video, a scheduling line alone does not prove a deposition occurred [5]. Note that sources releasing Epstein files and commentators may emphasize items that fit a political narrative; the Crooks and Liars article frames the email in an accusatory context, which readers should weigh against the presence or absence of corroborating court records [4].
6. Bottom line for readers
The best-documented, publicly available Trump deposition in these sources is the videotaped October 19, 2022 deposition in the E. Jean Carroll case [1] [2] [3]. Reporting about Epstein-related documents includes an email that schedules “Mr. Trump’s deposition” for August 18, 2009, but the public court record and news coverage cited here do not corroborate that a formal, recorded deposition of Trump took place on that 2009 date [4] [5]. Readers should treat the 2009 scheduling reference as an item in a larger document set that requires additional primary-document confirmation before concluding a deposition actually occurred that day [4] [5].