A federal judge will allow the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which former President Trump bragged about groping women without their consent to be introduced as evidence in the upcoming April trial of E. Jean Carroll’s civil rape lawsuit against Trump .
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled Friday that the Access Hollywood tape could be introduced at trial, as well as the testimony of two witnesses — Natasha Stoinoff and Jessica Lynch — who each also claimed Trump sexually assaulted them. .
Carroll claims in her lawsuit that Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman in New York in the mid-1990s, and said her reputation was damaged in 2019 when Trump denied raping her.
Trump has repeatedly referred to Carroll’s claims as a “lie” and a “hoax.” He has sued Trump for defamation.
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E. Gene Carroll, who accused former President Trump of raping him at a Bergdorf Goodman gym around 1995, sued him for defamation. (AP)
Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, had no comment.
In his ruling, Kaplan said the Access Hollywood tape suggests Trump has sexually assaulted women in the past, which satisfies a legal requirement to introduce the tape as evidence Carroll’s legal team can use to prove that Trump has a penchant for sexual assault.
“In this case, a jury could reasonably find, even from the Access Hollywood tape alone, that Mr. Trump admitted on the Access Hollywood tape that he had indeed had sexual contact with women in the past without consent them or that he had And this conclusion is supported by the other evidence discussed below,” Kaplan wrote.
In the tape, which aired nationally during the 2016 campaign, Trump bragged about kissing and fondling women while chatting with “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush. The former real estate developer and reality star also used foul language and discussed trying to have sex with a married woman.
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E. Jean Carroll claims former President Trump damaged her reputation in 2019 when he denied raping her. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“I went after her and failed,” Trump said. “I’ll admit it. . . . She was married. . . . And I took her very hard. I actually took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have nice furniture.’
“I’ve got to use some Tic Tac, in case I start kissing her,” Trump said after seeing actress Arianne Zucker on the set of the soap opera she was set to appear on. “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”
“And when you’re a star they let you do it,” Trump continued. “You can do everything.”
Kaplan will also allow Stoinoff and Lynch to testify about their own sexual assault allegations against Trump at trial.
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Former President Trump has called the sexual assault allegations leveled against him false and a “hoax.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Lynch said Trump assaulted her on a flight from Texas to New York in 1979, touching her and trying to kiss her without her consent.
“Mr. Trump has claimed that Ms. Lynch is a liar and that no such event occurred. And he will have the right to make that argument to the jury,” Kaplan wrote. “But that is not now the issue. Even taken on its own, Ms. Lynch’s account, if credited by the jury, could reasonably be seen as describing nonconsensual intercourse by Mr. Trump and also as Mr. Trump’s attempt to bring at least his hands, and perhaps other parts of his body, into contact with Ms. Lynch’s genitalia, in any event in violation of federal law.”
She offered a similar analysis of allegations by Stoynoff, a former People magazine writer, who said Trump sexually assaulted her during a visit to Mar-a-Lago, kissing and fondling her without her consent.
“Additionally, the Access Hollywood tape and Ms. Lynch’s testimony are additional evidence that a jury could consider in deciding whether to conclude that the ultimate goal of Mr. Trump’s alleged actions with Ms. Stoinoff was to bring his hands or other parts of his anatomy in contact with Ms. Stoynoff’s most private parts,” Kaplan ruled.
“Certainly, the Court now draws no such inference. And Mr. Trump has publicly denied that such an incident ever occurred. Of course he would be entitled to do so before a jury. And the jury could credit Mr. Trump’s testimony preferably by Ms. Stoynoffs. But that is for another day. The Court’s only function at this stage is to decide whether the evidence is sufficient for a jury to reasonably conclude that Mr. Trump at least attempted to have contact with Ms. Stoynoff that, had it occurred, would have met the requirements of Rule 413(d). That standard has been met.”
Kaplan previously ordered Trump to testify in the case on October 19, 2022.
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The defamation trial is scheduled to begin on April 25. It’s one of several legal issues facing Trump as he races for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Trump is also being investigated for hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, who he claimed had an affair with before he became president, and is facing investigations into his finances, attempts to sway the 2020 presidential election and alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Adam Sabes of Fox News contributed to this report.