The judge presiding over former President Trump’s hush money trial has doubled down on his ruling that footage of the notorious “Access Hollywood” tape will not be shown to jurors.
“I remain convinced at this moment … that the tape should not be in,” Judge Juan Merchan told the court on Monday.
The 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape was released before the 2016 election and showed Trump boasting to host Billy Bush that he could kiss and touch women because of his star power.
Merchan previously denied the prosecution showing the tape to jurors, saying in March, “it is not necessary that the tape itself be introduced into evidence or that it be played for the jury.”
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Former President Trump exits Trump Tower in New York City on Monday, April 15, 2024. The hush money selection begins today in the so-called hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court this morning. (Probe-Media for Fox News Digital)
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass on Monday pushed to include evidence surrounding the video, which he said is an “admission of sexual assault” and “living proof that the defendant is not who he says he is.”
“Those were more than comments of a sexual nature,” Steinglass said, adding that when the video surfaced in 2016, it threw Trump’s presidential campaign into a “tailspin.”
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Trump’s attorney said the video was damaging and too prejudicial to show to a jury.
Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers Thursday, March 14, 2024, in New York. A dozen Manhattan residents are about to become the first Americans to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime. Jury selection is set to begin Monday in former President Trump’s hush money trial. (AP Photos)
“The people will get everything they need to prove the charges in this case from what your honor ruled,” Blanche said.
Although Merchan said the video could not be shown to jurors, prosecutors could introduce Trump’s exact words from the video, as well as an email related to the tape.
The hush money trial officially began Monday morning in Manhattan, with Trump facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
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Adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, speaks to the media with attorney Michael Avenatti outside federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York City on April 16, 2018. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)
The litigation revolves around payments made by Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. The $130,000 payment was allegedly to hush up her allegations. will claim an alleged extramarital affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump, however, has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The charges stem from checks the Trump Organization wrote to Cohen over a roughly 12-month period that reimbursed him for payments to Daniels. Prosecutors said the checks were falsely recorded as legal expenses.
Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, and prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony.
Former President Trump attends the first day of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 15, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via AP, POOL)
Trump could face more than 10 years in prison if convicted, though legal experts think the former president is more likely to be given up to four years of probation if convicted by a jury.
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The trial begins with jury selection, where potential jurors are asked a series of questions to determine whether they can weigh the case fairly. Jury selection is expected to take at least a week, while the trial is expected to continue for at least six weeks.
Former President Trump speaks to members of the media in Manhattan criminal court in New York City on Monday, April 15, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Arriving at the courthouse on Monday, Trump slammed the case as “political persecution.”
“Nothing like this has ever happened before,” he said in Lower Manhattan. “This is political persecution. … This is a case that should never have been brought.”
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“This is an attack on America and that’s why I’m proud to be here,” Trump added. “This is really an attack on a political opponent.”
