Donald Trump doubled down on crude comments he made in 2005 about famous men being allowed to grope women at will, according to excerpts of his deposition in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit.
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump doubled down on crude comments he made in 2005 about famous men being allowed to grope women at will, according to excerpts of his deposition in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit.
Carroll claims Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s and then defamed her in denying it. Her lawyers questioned him last year about the “hot mic” tape in which he makes unguarded remarks to Access Hollywood TV host Billy Bush, according to a filing late Thursday in her case.
“I just start kissing them,” Trump infamously told Bush. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it.” The tape went on to reveal far more graphic references.
In the deposition, Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan pressed Trump on his claim that you “can do anything,” according to the filing.
Pressing Trump
“Well, historically, that’s true with stars,” Trump said.
“And you consider yourself to be a star?” Kaplan asked.
“I think you can say that, yeah,” Trump said.
Carroll claims the alleged attack unfolded after she and Trump ran into each other while shopping at Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue. Trump has consistently denied attacking Carroll and claims the allegations are part of a broader “witch hunt” against him.
Read More: Trump Confused Rape Accuser Carroll With Ex-Wife in Deposition
In her filing, Kaplan said the tape and Trump’s remarks about it demonstrate that what allegedly happened to Carroll “was not an isolated act” and urged the judge overseeing the case to let the jury hear it.
‘Locker Room Talk’
Trump has called the tape “locker room talk” and repeatedly denied engaging in the behavior he describes on it, including during the deposition, according to an excerpt released earlier in which he said anyone who claims otherwise is lying.
He was less sure if he had ever kissed a woman without consent, saying, “I don’t think so.”
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba said in a separate filing late Thursday that the tape and Trump’s comments should be barred from trial because they “do not even tangentially relate” to the lawsuit. Habba said Carroll’s only reason for wanting jurors to hear the tape is “to suggest to the jury that defendant had a propensity for sexual assault.”
Trump’s filing also seeks to block from the trial all testimony from two other women who went public with sexual assault claims against him before the 2016 presidential election: Jessica Leeds, who claims Trump groped her when they sat next to each other in first class on a flight three decades ago, and Natasha Stoynoff, who alleges he attacked her at his Mar-a-Lago resort when she was interviewing him for People magazine in 2005.
Kaplan said the women’s testimony is crucial because they were also allegedly sexually assaulted by Trump and “later experienced additional shame and humiliation when Trump publicly denied their accusations and insulted their physical appearance as part of his explanation for why the alleged assault did not occur.”
‘Relevant Evidence’
Their accusations and Trump’s responses “are relevant evidence that he committed additional sexual assaults,” Kaplan said.
Trump has also denied attacking the two women, or anyone else.
Carroll, who went public with her claims in 2019, sued Trump for defamation after he accused her of fabricating the rape to sell a book. Carroll seeks to use the tape to show a pattern of behavior by Trump, who last week said he plans to testify in his own defense.
The former president, who is making a third run for the White House, is also seeking to preclude Carroll from using evidence “relating to speeches and statements” he made while he was campaigning, according to the filing.
Trump, who insulted Carroll’s appearance when he denied her claims, also insulted Kaplan’s appearance during the deposition, when he was asked about it.
“You wouldn’t be a choice of mine, either, to be honest with you,” Trump said to Kaplan. “I hope you’re not insulted. I wouldn’t under any circumstances have any interest in you.”
The case is Carroll v. Trump, 20-cv-07311, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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