NEW YORK (AP) A federal judge wants to know if ex-President Donald Trump plans to attend a New York trial this month resulting from a columnists claims that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued an order Monday directing parties in the case to notify him by April 20 whether they will be present throughout the trial, scheduled to start April 25 in Manhattan federal court. And later in the day, he rejected a request that names of anonymous jurors be released to lawyers, saying Trumps latest public statements about a criminal case against him in state court show jurors might be harassed if their identities got out.

A writer, E. Jean Carroll, sued Trump in November , saying he raped her in early 1996 after a chance meeting at the Bergdorf Goodman department store. He has repeatedly and emphatically denied it in language sure to be highlighted for a jury that will decide whether the rape occurred and if Trump defamed Carroll with his comments.