'Access Hollywood' tape of Trump won't be shown to jury at defamation trial, lawyer says

A lawyer for a writer who says Donald Trump sexually abused her in the 1990s and then defamed her while president in 2019 said Saturday that the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape and two women who accused Trump of abuse will not be put before a New York jury considering defamation damages.

The revelation by attorney Roberta Kaplan, who represents advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, means that the Republican front-runner in this year's presidential race could testify in Manhattan federal court as early as Monday, a day before the New Hampshire primary.

The jury is considering whether Trump owes more to Carroll than the $5 million awarded to her last spring by another jury that concluded Trump sexually abused but did not rape Carroll in the dressing room of a luxury Manhattan department store in spring 1996 and then defamed her in October 2022.

Trump attended the trial for two of its first three days, only skipping it on Thursday, when he attended the funeral of his mother-in-law in Florida.