Donald Trump secured a small victory in his historic Manhattan hush money trial as the judge ruled the infamous Access Hollywood tape will not be played to jurors.
However, prosecutors will be able to introduce a full transcript and read it aloud word for word.
Judge Juan Merchan also declined any mention of sexual assault allegations made in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign because they are ‘complete hearsay’.
The Access Hollywood clip is from 2005 and in it Trump, then a reality TV star, described to NBC host Billy Bush how he met and seduced women.
He said: ‘I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ’em by the p****.’
In the 2005 Access Hollywood video tape Donald Trump prepares for an appearance on ‘Days of Our Lives’ with actress Arianne Zucker (right). He is accompanied to the set by Access Hollywood host Billy Bush (left)
In this 2005 frame from video, Donald Trump prepares for an appearance on ‘Days of Our Lives’ with actress Arianne Zucker (center). He is accompanied to the set by Access Hollywood host Billy Bush
Former U.S. President Donald Trump sits with his attorneys as Judge Juan Merchan oversees the proceedings at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, April 15, 2024 in this courtroom sketch
The tape was made public before the 2016 election and damaged Trump in the polls, but he went on to win the election against Hillary Clinton.
Judge Merchan ruled that a transcript of the tape could be read to the jury, but said the tape itself won’t be played.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, arguing for it to be played in the trial, said that it was ‘incendiary’ and an ‘admission, or at the very least a description of sexual assault’.
Steinglass said that this ‘is more than just comments of a sexual nature’ .
– Adult film actress Stormy Daniels who is at the center of Trump’s hush money payment trial
Former Playboy model Karen McDougal whose claims will also be featured in the trial
In this courtroom sketch, Judge Juan M. Merchan presides over former U.S. President Donald Trump’s trial in a Manhattan criminal court in New York, Monday, April 15, 2024
In this courtroom sketch, former U.S. President Donald Trump, left, sits with his attorney Todd Blanche, before Justice Juan M. Merchan, at the beginning of his trial in a Manhattan criminal court in New York, Monday, April 15, 2024
He said prosecutors would introduce 2016 emails from Steve Bannon to Michael Cohen which said that the Access Hollywood tape was ‘all over the place’.
Steinglass said that was ‘powerful evidence of the campaign’s reaction to the incendiary evidence and explains why the campaign were so eager to explain his words as ‘locker room talk’.
Trump defended his crude language from 2005 as ‘locker room talk’
Former U.S. President Donald Trump returns from a break as jury selection begins in his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 15, 2024 in New York City
Donald Trump appears in State Supreme Court in New York on Monday morning, April 15, 2024
Daniels was ‘living proof the defendant wasn’t all talk’, Steinglass said.
In another ruling Judge Merchan denied a request to introduce reports that were published after the Access Hollywood tape came out about three other women accusing Trump.
Judge Merchan said they were ‘very, very prejudicial’ and ‘just gossip’.