Trump seeks to block ‘Access Hollywood’ tape from Carroll trial
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The Access Hollywood tape of Mr Donald Trump chatting does not relate to the suit filed by Ms E. Jean Carroll, said his lawyer.
PHOTOS: AFP, REUTERS
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NEW YORK - Former president Donald Trump said the infamous 2005 audio recording in which he brags about groping women without consent should be barred from an upcoming trial over claims by a former Elle magazine advice columnist who says he raped her in the 1990s.
The “hot mic” tape of Mr Trump chatting with “Access Hollywood” TV host Billy Bush – and Mr Trump’s comments about the incident after it went public – “do not even tangentially relate” to the suit filed by Ms E. Jean Carroll,
Ms Carroll, who went public with her claims in 2019, sued Mr Trump for defamation after he accused her of fabricating the rape to sell a book.
Ms Carroll seeks to use the tape to demonstrate a pattern of behaviour by the former president. Mr Trump last week said he plans to testify in his own defence at a trial set for April.
Ms Carroll’s “desire to introduce this evidence can serve only one purpose: to suggest to the jury that (the) defendant had a propensity for sexual assault and therefore the alleged incident must have in fact occurred,” Mr Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba said in the filing.
Mr Trump’s filing also seeks to block from the trial all testimony from two other women who went public with sexual assault claims against him before the 2016 presidential election: Ms Jessica Leeds, who claims Mr Trump groped her when they sat next to each other in first class on a flight three decades ago and Natasha Stoynoff, who alleges he attacked her at his Mar-a-Lago resort when she was interviewing him for People magazine in 2005.
Both women have been deposed by Ms Carroll’s lawyers and are on her list of potential witnesses at the trial. Their claims gained traction after the “Access Hollywood” tape emerged, though Mr Trump went on to win the 2016 election.
Mr Trump, who is making a third run for the White House, is also seeking to preclude Ms Carroll from using evidence “relating to speeches and statements” he made while he was campaigning for president, according to the filing.
Mr Trump has consistently denied attacking Ms Carroll and claims the allegations are part of a broader “witch hunt” against him. BLOOMBERG
