Trump’s ‘Access Hollywood’ tape will not be shown to jury in New York defamation trial, paving way for former president’s testimony

A lawyer for a writer who says Donald Trump sexually abused her in the 1990s and then defamed her while he was president in 2019, said Saturday that the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape and two women who accused Trump of abuse They will not be presented to a New York jury. considering damages for defamation.

The disclosure by attorney Roberta Kaplan, who represents consulting columnist E. Jean Carroll, means the Republican front-runner in this year’s presidential race could testify in Manhattan federal court as soon as Monday, a day before the primary. of New Hampshire.

The jury is considering whether Trump owes Carroll more than the $5 million he was awarded last spring by another jury that found Trump sexually abused Carroll, but did not rape her, in the dressing room of a luxury Manhattan department store. in the spring of 1996 and then defamed her in October 2022.

Trump attended the trial for two of its first three days, skipping only Thursday, when he attended his mother-in-law’s funeral in Florida.

Kaplan said Saturday night in a letter to the judge that he would not show jurors the 2005 tape of Trump on a hot microphone speaking disparagingly of women to keep the issues of the trial “in focus.”

For the same reason, he said he will not call two other Trump accusers as witnesses: Natasha Stoynoff and Jessica Leeds.

A jury previously determined that Trump sexually abused Carroll. AP

Both women testified at the trial that ended last May. Leeds, a former stockbroker, said Trump abruptly touched her against her will on an airline flight in the 1970s, while Stoynoff, a writer, said Trump forcibly kissed her against her will while interviewing him. for a 2005 article.

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Kaplan noted that Trump’s lawyers had said he has the right to testify about the “Access Hollywood” tape and the Stoynoff and Leeds allegations, although he would not have if Carroll’s lawyers did not bring them into the case.

The judge in the case has ordered the jury that they must accept the jury’s findings from last year, and therefore the evidence has focused almost exclusively on the harm that Trump’s continued claims that he never attacked her have caused Carroll. and she doesn’t know that she is lying.

Trump, 77, has denied her claims in the past week during campaign stops, on social media and at a news conference. And he goes on to claim that Carroll, 80, made false claims against him to sell the 2019 memoir in which he first revealed the allegations publicly and for political reasons.

The judge has severely limited what Trump can testify if he takes the stand, and Carrol’s lawyers likely decided to limit the introduction of more evidence to prevent Trump from veering into topics such as what he says are many false accusations against him. .

However, Kaplan said he plans to show jury statements Trump has made since his client finished testifying in the case on Thursday.

donald trumpTrump could testify as soon as Monday. fake images

Kaplan said Trump said he plans to repeat his claims that he never attacked Carroll and that he doesn’t know her “a thousand times.”

“Such statements,” he wrote, “are of course relevant to the issue of punitive damages, as they illustrate that the defendant has no intention of ceasing his smear campaign against Ms. Carroll, even in the face of court proceedings in which his responsibility for defaming her is resolved.”

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A lawyer for Trump did not respond to a request for comment on Kaplan’s letter Saturday night.

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Source: vtt.edu.vn

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