New York Judge Juan Merchan is allowing testimony related to the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape featuring former President Donald Trump at an upcoming trial with the active presidential candidate as the defendant, per new decisions released by the judge.
The infamous recording features the eventual president seemingly bragging about the prospect of perpetrating sexual misconduct, though he and his team dismissed its contents as merely braggadocio and not reflective of Trump’s conduct.
The criminal trial ensnaring Trump will cover allegations that he falsified business records in connection with hush money given before the 2016 elections to Stormy Daniels, a woman with whom he allegedly had an affair. The idea with the “Access Hollywood” tape is that it helps outline the alleged concerns from Trump and his team that precipitated the money given to Daniels.
A separate criminal case brought federally against Michael Cohen — a former lawyer for Trump — already effectively established the money for Daniels as campaign-related, with the idea there being that trying to keep Daniels quiet was part and parcel of trying to help advance Trump’s campaign for president.
“This court rules that the proper balance lies in allowing the People to elicit testimony about a videotaped interview which surfaced on October 7, 2016, that contained comments of a sexual nature which Defendant feared could hurt his presidential aspirations,” Merchan said as highlighted by CNN, referencing the 2000s recording in question.
He declined — for now — the possibility of actually playing the recording, acknowledging a possibility of creating undue prejudice against Trump among jurors. That prospect would be tied to the tone of the recording and its potentially immediate impact, emotionally speaking.
Merchan is also allowing some testimony from Daniels, Cohen, and Karen McDougal, another woman who allegedly had an affair with Trump and who was also the target of a financial arrangement that effectively silenced her for a time. Trial was originally happening this month but was put on hold after a federal prosecutor’s office released evidentiary materials spurring a review.
