From WNYC Studios, I'm Brian Lerer. This is my daily politics podcast. It's Wednesday, April 26th.

The never-ending spectacle of trying to hold Donald Trump accountable for something, anything that he's done outside the law,

that's one narrative, meets a much more widespread social issue, justice for survivors of sexual assault.

Now, last year, the New York State Legislature, if you don't already know this, passed, and Governor

Kathy Hokel signed the Adult Survivors Act which gives

adult survivors of sexual assault from past decades a new one-year window in which to press

charges against their alleged abusers that is it suspended the statute of limitations on old

sexual assault cases for one year. It was modeled after

the state's Child Victims Act, which had a one-year window that began in 2019, and more than

11,000 suits from what I read were filed during that look at window, an indication of how much sexual assault goes unreported

at the time it occurs. Now, the Adult Survivors Act window began on Thanksgiving of last year,

so we're approaching the halfway mark, and one of those old allegations that someone claiming

to be a victim brought forward was this accusation

by former advice columnist for Elle magazine E. Jean Carroll that Donald Trump raped her in a

Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s. The trial began yesterday with opening

arguments. Carol was also accusing Trump of defamation

for the way he responded publicly to her claims. We'll get into that. We'll talk about day one of

E. Jean Carroll versus Donald J. Trump. Opening arguments were yesterday, but also about the context.

The Adult Survivors Act and the larger role it's playing

for justice as a whole and for individual victims here in New York. My guest to help us out with

this is Jane Manning, director of the Women's Equal Justice Project, which helps sexual assault

and domestic abuse survivors navigate the legal system individually and works

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