Access Hollywood video bolsters rape accusation against Trump, says lawyer

A video recording in which Donald Trump spoke about sexually assaulting women bolsters the case of the magazine columnist who has accused the former president of rape, her lawyer has maintained.

A court in New York on Monday heard closing arguments in a civil case in which E Jean Carroll has alleged that Mr Trump raped her in a department store changing room in the city nearly 30 years ago.

Mr Trump has strongly denied the claims. His lawyer contended that Ms Carroll had abused the legal system by bringing a false claim for, among other things, money, status and political reasons.

[ Donald Trump will not testify in rape trial in New York ]

“What E Jean Carroll has done here is an affront to justice,” Mr Trump’s counsel Joseph Tacopina said.

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Ms Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan told the jury in Manhattan federal court that a 2005 Access Hollywood tape recorded Mr Trump “describing his standard operating procedure” of kissing women without consent and then sometimes grabbing their genitals.

“He [Trump] admitted on video doing exactly the kinds of things that have brought us here to this courtroom,” Ms Kaplan said.

In the video Mr Trump is also heard to say: “When you are a star, they let you do it.”

“He thinks stars like him can get away with it. He thinks he can get away with it here,” Ms Kaplan said.

Ms Carroll (79), last year filed a civil law case against the former president, claiming he had raped her in a changing room in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in either 1995 or 1996.

She contended that Mr Trump then defamed her by denying the incident happened.

Ms Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

The former president has accused Ms Carroll of making up the story to drive sales of a 2019 book.

Mr Trump has not attended the court. However, in a deposition on video, he strongly rejected the allegations against him as ridiculous and untrue.

He said he had only met Ms Carroll once, at a reception line at a charity event, and had no idea who she was.

[ Outside the court in New York, a group of women hold signs saying: ‘I believe E Jean Carroll’ ]

Mr Tacopina urged jurors to set aside any opinions they might have about Mr Trump and reject what the lawyer called Ms Carroll’s effort to “profit” from what he called a false story.

Mr Tacopina said there was no reason for Mr Trump to give evidence in the case as the sexual assault alleged by Ms Carroll did not happen.

Mr Tacopina said there were “no witnesses for us to call” because the story was made up.

“Who are we supposed to call, someone who wasn’t in Bergdorf Goodman that day?” he asked the jury.

Mr Tacopina also claimed Ms Carroll’s inability to remember the specific date of the assault deprived Mr Trump of the chance to provide an alibi.

He contended that Ms Carroll and two friends who gave evidence to corroborate her story had “colluded” to harm Mr Trump with an outlandish tale.

Addressing the jury, Mr Tacopina said: “It all comes down to: Do you believe the unbelievable?”