Trump Defends His Infamous Access Hollywood Comments in Civil Rape Trial Deposition Video

A New York court released a 48-minute-long video of former president Donald Trump’s deposition in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation and battery case on Friday.

The wide-ranging deposition shows Trump doubling down on his lewd comments from a now-infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which he said “when you’re a star, you can do anything” to women. The newly released deposition video also shows the former president mistaking a photo of Carroll from the late 1980s as a photo of his second wife, Marla Maples, despite Trump’s having repeatedly insisted that Carroll is not his “type.”

Carroll has accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. Her lawsuit alleges the former president defamed her by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” in a Truth Social post in October. He wrote in the post, “This woman is not my type!”

Along with defamation, Carroll’s suit in a New York court accuses Trump of battery under a new state law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attackers even if the statute of limitations has passed.

The court released the deposition after several media outlets asked the judge to make it public. Jurors viewed the video on Wednesday and Thursday. 

During the deposition, attorneys for Carroll read out quotes from the Access Hollywood tape, which was released during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” Trump tells then-host Billy Bush in the tape. “And when you’re a star they let you do it . . . You can do anything.”

“Grab them by the p****,” Trump adds. “You can do anything.”

Carroll’s attorneys asked Trump of the quotes, “That’s what you said, correct?”

“Well, historically, that’s true with stars,” Trump said. 

A lawyer asked, “It’s true with stars that they can grab women by the p****?”

“Well, if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true,” Trump said. “Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately, or fortunately.”

Asked if he considers himself to be a star, Trump replied: “I think you can say that, yeah.” 

Trump was also shown a photo of himself with his then-wife Ivana, Carroll, and Carroll’s then-husband. Asked to identify Carroll in the picture, Trump said, “That’s Marla, yeah. That’s my wife.” 

When Trump was told the woman was Carroll and not in fact his ex-wife, he said the photo was “very blurry.”

“I say with as much respect as I can but she is not my type,” Trump said. “Not my type in any way, shape, or form.”

Trump also blasted Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan as a “political operative” and a “disgrace.” 

The video’s release comes one day after both sides rested their cases. Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said he will not call any witnesses in the case and also waived Trump’s right to testify. The judge has given Trump until Sunday evening to change his mind.

Jurors will be asked to rule on whether there is enough evidence to prove Trump committed battery and if so, what type: forcible touching, sex abuse, or rape. The jury would also be tasked with deciding what compensatory and punitive damages should be handed down.

Jurors would then also decide if Trump’s Truth Social post about Carroll was made with actual malice.

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