Trump video deposition in civil rape trial made public
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The footage shows Donald Trump being asked about his infamous comments in a tape leaked before the 2016 election.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – A video of sworn testimony given by former president Donald Trump in a United States rape and defamation lawsuit against him was made public on Friday.
The footage, some of which was aired in court this week, shows Trump being asked about his infamous comments in the Access Hollywood tape leaked before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump says during the deposition, recorded in October 2022, that his comment that famous people had licence to sexually assault women was “historically” true “over the last million years”.
“I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately,” Trump says under questioning from the lawyer of his accuser E. Jean Carroll.
“And you consider yourself to be a star?” asks the attorney, Ms Roberta Kaplan. “I think you can say that, yeah,” Trump responds.
The video also shows Trump mistaking Ms Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples in an old photograph.
“It’s very blurry,” Trump says, after his lawyer points out his mistake.
Trump reiterates his claim that he does not know who Ms Carroll is and repeats several times that “she’s not my type”.
The video was released after members of the press petitioned the judge presiding over the civil trial for its release.
Ms Carroll sued Trump in 2022 alleging that he raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s.
She also claims that he defamed her when he accused her of lying after she went public with the allegation in 2019.
Trump has repeatedly and strenuously denied the allegations and has not been criminally prosecuted over them.
Ms Carroll’s suit seeks unspecified damages for psychological trauma and other harm and asks that Trump retract his comments.
Lawyers for both sides rested their case on Thursday and the nine-person jury is expected to reach a verdict next week.
The case is one of several legal challenges facing Trump, as the 76-year-old Republican seeks a return to the White House in the 2024 election.
In April, he pleaded not guilty in a criminal case related to a hush-money payment made to a porn star
Trump is also being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents storming of the US Capitol
