Entertainment

Jury to hear about Access Hollywood Tape, but not assault allegations, judge rules

Top line

Former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial will include his inappropriate comments about women that surfaced before the 2016 election, Judge Juan Merchan ruled Monday as proceedings began, but he refused to allow that. Other sexual assault allegations against Trump are being used in the case, which stems from Trump's alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Donald Trump (right) is interviewed by Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” at Trump Tower on January 20. … [+] 2015 in New York.

Getty Images

Highlights

Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in the criminal case, which are based on $420,000 in payments he made to ex-attorney Michael Cohen after Cohen paid Daniels before 2016 so that she would not make allegations about her affair with Trump public.

Merchan on Monday confirmed the decision to allow the transcription of an Access Hollywood tape made public just before the 2016 election, in which Trump claims to seize [women] by pussy and may have contributed to Trump's desire to keep Daniel's allegations secret, but the judge refused the prosecutor's request to play the tape himself during the trial.

The judge also overturned the prosecutor's request to include the dozens of sexual assaults. allegations who spoke out against Trumpcall They have complete hearsay, according to Lawfare, and also rejected a request to include a deposition given by Trump in which he discussed the Access Hollywood tape.

The lawsuit will include separate allegations from model Karen McDougal that she had an affair with Trump, leading the National Enquirer to pay her $150,000 to keep quiet before the 2016 election, although Merchan ruled that prosecutors could not explain how Trump's wife, Melania Trump, was pregnant at the time of the alleged affair.

To monitor

Trump's trial begins Monday with jury selection. It's unclear how long it will take to seat a 12-person jury, and the trial is expected to last about six weeks once closing arguments begin. While it's still unclear who will ultimately testify at the trial, potential witnesses who could testify include Cohen, Daniels and McDougal, as well as Trump aides like former White House adviser Hope Hicks. Trump told reporters Friday that he plans to testify at the trial, although it remains to be seen whether he actually will.

Tangent

Discussions between Merchan and the case's lawyers on Monday also raised questions about whether Trump could face consequences for allegedly violating the order of silence against him, which prohibits him from making public statements against potential witnesses, court personnel and family members of participants in the case. case. Prosecutors told the court they plan to ask Merchan to hold Trump in contempt for violating his silence order. pointing to a recent social media post in which Trump called Daniels and Cohen sleazy bags. Trump's lawyers have said they plan to file a motion opposing Trump's contempt of court soon, but it has not yet been filed.

Key context

Trump was indicted in March 2023 for falsifying bank statements for his reimbursements to Cohen. While Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to silence her affair allegations, Trump paid Cohen a higher $420,000, which also included a separate expense, a $60,000 bonus and enough money to cover the Cohen's taxes on payment. Trump repaid Cohen through a series of payments in 2017, which prosecutors say were processed through the Trump Organization and falsely recorded as legal payments. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, with his lawyers arguing that the reimbursement checks were personal expenses that do not count as business payments.

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