A judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial denied prosecutors’ request on Monday that they be permitted to use as evidence allegations of sexual assault against the former president related to the infamous Access Hollywood tape.
Judge Juan Merchan said such allegations amounted to “rumors” that would be prejudicial toward Trump, according to reports from the Manhattan courtroom.
“They are very prejudicial, and at this point, given what we know today, it was just a rumor,” Merchan said.
The tape, a 2005 clip of Trump making a vulgar comment about women, aired a month before the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors will be able to tell jurors what Trump said on the tape, but the judge said they cannot play it, nor can they introduce evidence of the sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced in the weeks after it leaked.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had
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