NY.- A video of former President Donald Trump being questioned about the rape allegations against him was released for the first time on Friday, providing a glimpse into the Republican’s denials that were emphatic and often colorful.
The jury will have to see the video of Trump’s statement he made in October 2022 in the final days of the trial on a lawsuit brought against him by columnist E. Jean Carroll.
Written transcripts of Trump’s testimony were also made public, but not the video, which was released Friday to media outlets covering the trial.
The video shows Trump answering questions, dressed in his trademark navy suit and bright blue tie.
He dismissed Carroll’s claim that he had raped her in a high-end Manhattan department store as “a disgusting and false lie.” “It’s a disgrace that something like this can be put on display,” Trump said.
Trump reiterated that Carroll is “not his type of woman” but also mistook her for his second wife Marla Maples when he showed a photo of him with Carroll and her then-husband at an event in the 1980s.
Trump was also asked about a notorious “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump boasts that he has touched women’s genitals.
He said that, as he did before, that it was “comments that are made in the locker room.” Trump justified his comments about famous people getting involved with women by saying, “Historically that’s true with stars.”
All trial-related testimony wrapped up on Thursday, leading to closing arguments by lawyers, which will be Monday, unless Trump makes a last-minute decision to testify.
