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Donald Trump‘s lawyers want to ban jurors in his upcoming civil rape trial from hearing about the infamous ‘grab ’em by the p*ssy’ tape, in which the former president boasts about how celebrities can molest women.
Trump attorneys Alina Habba and Michael Madaio filed papers in Manhattan federal court late on Thursday.
They are seeking to block references to the 2005 taped encounter and the tape itself from the April trial.
In the tape, he said that sometimes when he sees beautiful women: ‘I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.
‘When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything – grab ’em by the p*ssy.’
The trial stems from the claims of longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. She alleges Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s. Trump denies her allegations.
The attorneys called the tape ‘irrelevant and highly prejudicial’ and said it might unjustly be used to suggest to jurors that Trump had a propensity for sexual assault and therefore must have raped Carroll.
Trump’s lawyers are trying to stop the infamous Access Hollywood tape being brought into his April 25 rape trial. He has said the encounter with Carroll in the mid-1990s at an upscale Manhattan department store never happened
Billy Bush and Donald Trump are seen meeting actress Arianne Zucker in 2005 during a segment of ‘Access Hollywood’. Shortly before Trump and Bush began filming, Trump boasted about being able to ‘grab women by the p*ssy’
They also asked to prevent testimony from two women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct and to ban references to his campaign speeches.
Carroll, 79, sued Trump in November after New York state temporarily changed laws to allow adult rape victims to sue their abusers, even if the attacks occurred decades ago.
A trial is set for April 25, and Trump and Carroll are both expected to testify.
Carroll, a former columnist for Elle magazine, said in her 2019 memoir, ‘What Do We Need Men For?’ that Trump raped her in late 1995 or early 1996 in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury Manhattan department store.
Trump has denied it, sometimes angrily, in public statements.
In an October deposition for the upcoming trial, Trump was dismissive of Carroll’s claims, saying: ‘Physically she’s not my type.’
Trump has denied knowing Carroll, despite a 1987 photo showing them along with Carroll’s then-husband and his first wife Ivana Trump, who died last year.
It was that photo that he was apparently shown in October 2022 when he mistook Carroll for his second wife, Marla Maples.
Donald Trump was reportedly shown this photo with his first wife, Ivana, rape accuser E. Jean Carroll and Carroll’s then-husband. He mistook Carroll for Marla Maples
Trump shares a daughter, Tiffany, with actress Marla Maples (pictured, left, in 1996). Writer E. Jean Carroll (pictured, right, in 2020) accused him of sexual assault
In his testimony, Trump said of Carroll: ‘She is not a woman I would ever be attracted to. There is no reason for me to be attracted to her’
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, confronted him with claims that two dozen other women have made against him, asking if any are true.
‘I would say. I mean, I don’t see any. I mean, you haven’t shown me anything,’ Trump responded, according to the transcript.
His answers might increase the relevance of lewd comments he made on the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, which was revealed just weeks before he won the November 2016 presidential election.
Afterward, he issued a rare apology, saying the comments were ‘locker room banter’ caught on a hot mic.
In excerpts of his deposition placed in the public record late on Thursday, Trump said it’s been largely true ‘over the last million years’ that celebrities can grab at women they find attractive.
‘Unfortunately or fortunately,’ he added.
‘And you consider yourself to be a star?’ Kaplan asked.
‘I think you can say that, yeah,’ Trump responded.
In her lawsuit, Carroll said she had a chance encounter with Trump that escalated into playful banter as he asked her to help him pick out lingerie for a friend.
She said they teased each other to try on a piece of lingerie and went into the dressing room, where Trump became violent and raped her.
Her lawyer declined to comment Friday.
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