When the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape emerged in the heat of the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump downplayed its vulgar contents as “locker room” talk. Now the tape could figure in his upcoming criminal trial in New York, and his lawyers are downplaying its evidentiary significance and arguing it would be unfair for prosecutors to use it.
The tape, of course, featured Trump bragging in 2005 about being able to grab women’s genitals by virtue of his celebrity. So, what does that have to do with his state charges for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with the then-candidate?
According to prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, the tape “bears directly on defendant’s intent and motive, both at the time that he and his confederates made the Stormy Daniels payoff and later when they sought to conceal that payment.” They write that the evidence at trial will show that its release “caused a panic within the campaign about defendant’s electoral prospects and ultimately served as the catalyst for consummating the Stormy Daniels payoff.”
Trump’s lawyers, meanwhile, argue the recording “contains inflammatory and unduly prejudicial evidence that has no place at this trial about documents and accounting practices.”
It’s true that a case involving business records necessarily involves documents. But that’s not all it’s about, and the tape could help the prosecution explain to the jury how that’s so. Its potential power likewise explains why Trump’s lawyers are fighting to keep it out. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for weekly updates on the top legal stories, including news from the Supreme Court, the Donald Trump cases and more.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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