Key takeaways:
- US District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the notorious “Access Hollywood” tape featuring former President Donald Trump can be used as evidence in a defamation case brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll.
- The ruling also allows for testimony from two women who say they were sexually assaulted by Trump in different decades.
- The trial is set to begin in October.
A federal judge has ruled that the notorious “Access Hollywood” tape featuring former President Donald Trump bragging about being able to grope women without their consent can be used as evidence in a defamation case brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll.
The ruling, made by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday, also allows for testimony from two women who say they were sexually assaulted by Trump in different decades. Trump has denied these allegations.
Carroll, a former magazine columnist, sued Trump for defamation after he denied raping her in the mid-1990s. She has indicated that she will call Natasha Stoynoff and Jessica Leeds, two women who came forward with allegations against Trump in 2016, as well as use their videotaped depositions.
The 2005 hot mic “Access Hollywood” video features Trump saying, “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet.” Trump’s lawyers had requested that the judge block the accusers from testifying at trial, as well as the Access Hollywood tape from being played at the trial. However, the judge rejected these requests.
Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for Trump, and Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for Carroll, declined to comment on the ruling. The trial is set to begin in October.
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