The Infamous 'Access Hollywood' Tapes Will Be Presented at Trump’s Defamation Trial

Less than a week remains before Donald Trump's second rape defamation trial, and U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan made it apparent on Tuesday that Trump's legal team will not be able to 'rewrite the history' from the first defamation case. Kaplan's order stated, "The material facts concerning the alleged sexual assault already have been determined, and this trial will not be a ‘do over’ of the previous trial." Furthermore, as reported by The Associated Press, the jury that saw the film in May concluded that Trump had defamed E. Jean Carroll in 2022 and had sexually assaulted her at a posh department shop in 1996. But now, the most egregious examples of Trump's apparent sexism will be shown before a new jury, including the Access Hollywood tape in which he boasted about his ability to 'grab them by the pussy' as well as the filmed deposition in which he stated that celebrities get away with sexual assault 'unfortunately—or fortunately.'

The tapes date back to 2005, when Trump was waiting to appear in a cameo on a soap opera and was heard boasting on the recording about kissing, groping, and attempting to have sex with women who weren't his wife. Shortly before the November 2016 presidential election, he brushed off the audio as 'locker room banter' and 'a private conversation' in a statement. However, given the similarities between the conduct Trump portrayed on the Access Hollywood tape and Carroll's allegation of sexual assault, Kaplan stated that a jury could find the video to be a helpful source of insight into Trump's mental state: "The jury could find that Mr. Trump was prepared to admit privately to sexual assaults eerily similar to that alleged by Ms. Carroll." 

The case's prior trials focused on Trump's slanderous denials, and it cost him $5 million in damages—which he reportedly paid. The second defamation trial will center on Trump's denials made while serving as President of the United States, complete with the added weight and prominence that came with his previous position of authority at the time of his remarks. As per The Daily Beast, Kaplan's ruling stated, "Mr. Trump and his counsel are precluded, in the presence of the jury, from claiming that Mr. Trump did not sexually abuse (“rape”) Ms. Carroll, that he did not make his… 2019 statements concerning Ms. Carroll with actual malice… or that Ms. Carroll fabricated her account."

When Carroll came out with her allegations in her 2019 book, published while Trump was President, he angrily denied that he had raped her in the changing room. He said he didn't know her, that she wasn't his type, and that it was likely her political agenda and book sales that were driving her to make up these lies. Additionally, Kaplan said on Tuesday that the counsel for Trump could not provide any proof or arguments that 'suggest or imply' that Trump did not sexually assault Carroll, that she made up her story, or that she did so for political or financial gain. The court said that Trump could not even claim he didn't think Carroll was telling the truth about their meeting in the 1990s.