Trump’s past behavior and statements were used against him as lawyers for E. Jean Carroll delivered closing arguments in her civil rape lawsuit against the former president.
During closing arguments in a civil trial over Carroll’s claims of rape and defamation, the lawyer Roberta Kaplan said the hot microphone tape showed Trump describing his “standard operating procedure” of kissing women without consent and then sometimes grabbing their genitals.
“He admitted on video to doing exactly the kinds of things that have brought us here to this courtroom,” Kaplan told jurors in Manhattan federal court.
In the video, Trump is also heard to say, “When you’re a star, they let you do it.”
Kaplan said, “He thinks stars like him can get away with it. He thinks he can get away with it here.”
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The E. Jean Carroll civil rape trial is important because Trump abused his position as president to defame her, which is not what this particular trial is about, but Carroll winning the rape trial would set the stage for Trump potentially losing the defamation case.
An adult lifetime of what is allegedly predatory behavior toward women is coming back to haunt Donald Trump.
For decades, Trump self-created the myth that he is Teflon and above the law, but a verdict for Carroll in court would represent some overdue accountability for Donald Trump.