The infamous “Access Hollywood†video in which Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission will not be shown to jurors at the former president's hush-money criminal trial, a New York judge ruled Monday.
Judge Juan M. Merchan said Manhattan prosecutors can still question witnesses about the tape, which was made public in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 White House campaign. But the judge said “it is not necessary that the tape itself be introduced into evidence or that it be played for the jury."
Merchan issued his rulings on the “Access Hollywood†tape and other issues even after deciding last Friday to postpone the trial until at least mid-April to deal with a last-minute evidence dump that Trump's lawyers said was hampering their ability to prepare their defence.
Merchan scheduled a hearing for March 25, the trial's original start date, to address that issue.
Trump’s lawyers complained that they only recently started receiving more than 100,000 pages of documents from a previous federal investigation into the matter that put Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen behind bars. They asked for a three-month delay and for the case to be thrown out.
Trump's hush-money case, one of his four criminal indictments, centers on allegations that he falsified his company’s records to hide the true nature of payments to Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Cohen paid porn actor Stormy Daniels US$130,000 and arranged for the publisher of the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid to pay former Playboy model Karen McDougal US$150,000 to suppress their claims that they had extramarital affairs with Trump years earlier. Trump's company then reimbursed Cohen and logged the payments to him as legal expenses, prosecutors said.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and not part of any cover-up. Trump says he didn’t have any of the alleged sexual encounters.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations involving the hush-money payments, as well as other, unrelated crimes, and spent about a year in prison before being released to home confinement because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump was not charged in the federal probe.
In other rulings Monday, Merchan denied a defence bid to bar Cohen, Daniels and McDougal from testifying as key prosecution witnesses in the Manhattan district attorney's case. However, he ruled that McDougal cannot testify about the underlying details of her alleged affair unless prosecutors can prove to him that the information is relevant.
Merchan also again rejected the defence's request that prosecutors be barred from arguing that Trump was seeking to improperly influence the 2016 election or that the National Enquirer aided in suppressing negative stories about him in a practice known as “catch and kill.â€
Merchan did not rule on the prosecution's request for a gag order that would bar Trump from making public statements about jurors, witnesses and others involved in the case. The judge said he would issue a separate ruling on the defence's request that he delay the hush-money trial indefinitely until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims Trump raised in his Washington, D.C., election interference case.
Prosecutors contend the release of the 2005 “Access Hollywood†footage, followed by a flurry of women coming forward to accuse Trump of sexual assault, hastened his efforts to keep negative stories out of the press, leading to the hush-money arrangement with Daniels.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the “Access Hollywood†video “contains inflammatory and unduly prejudicial evidence that has no place at this trial about documents and accounting practices.â€
Merchan said he would reconsider allowing prosecutors to show the tape if Trump's lawyers were to “open the door†during the trial.
The judge said he would rule later on the prosecution's request to present evidence about some of the sexual assault allegations that surfaced after the tape was made public. Prosecutors contend those allegations and Trump's public denials provide critical context to the charges against him and his “intent and motive in paying to silence Stormy Daniels and then concealing the payoff.â€
Before he decides that issue, Merchan said prosecutors will be required to make additional arguments about the admissibility of that evidence so he can better analyze it pursuant to rules governing testimony and evidence about so-called “prior bad acts.â€
This Monday, Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR), a federal statutory holiday and day of remembrance for the Indigenous children who never came home from Canadian residential schools, as well as those who survived them.
British Columbia saw a rare unanimous vote in its legislature in October 2019, when members passed a law adopting the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, setting out standards including free, prior and informed consent for actions affecting them.
A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and A-list Hollywood actor, has died.
Republicans on Sunday sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump's latest insults of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin in which he called her 'mentally disabled.'
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Two and a half years after losing her best friend and first love to suicide, Brooke Ford shared her story of grief and resilience at the CMHA Windsor-Essex Suicide Awareness Walk.
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Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice†to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.
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A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
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Alberta's premier spoke to calls for an outside, independent investigation into the death of Jon Wells during an incident involving Calgary police last week.
Republicans on Sunday sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump's latest insults of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin in which he called her 'mentally disabled.'
A reaction following a fire at a Georgia chemical plant Sunday morning is forcing evacuations and road closures in the area, according to Rockdale County officials.
Witnesses on Monday reported the first Israeli airstrike in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict, hours after Israel struck targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people over the weekend.
Tim Walz and JD Vance might have the chance to reshape the political landscape Tuesday in their first and only debate.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.
Riding in a black SUV with tinted windows, lawyer Mariel Colon rolls up to the gates of a remote mansion, strolling past a security guard side-by-side with Emma Coronel, the wife of notorious drug lord JoaquÃn 'El Chapo' Guzman.
The Liberal government is announcing more details on its existing strategy and funding to fight hate crimes.
Migrant groups are pushing the federal government to reverse its cap on international study permits and tightening post-graduate work permit qualifications, claiming it will leave many students 'in limbo.'
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Canadian innovators and technical leaders gathered in Ottawa Thursday to demonstrate the latest cutting-edge technology.
SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year.
Trees haven't grown on the Falkland Islands for thousands of years. But tree trunks and branches preserved in peat suggest the islands were once home to a forest.
John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the 'Beverly Hills Cop' films, has died. He was 76.
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When Annie Korver sits down with a new corporate or small business client, she encourages them to focus first on the 'truth' part of Truth and Reconciliation.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said Friday it had fined Air Canada US$250,000 for operating flights in 2022 and 2023 in prohibited Iraqi airspace.
While libraries might be stereotyped by some as boring or outdated, they’ve become popular digital destinations for young viewers on TikTok.
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Matt Perrault has shipped animals in and out of Canada on behalf of owners for more than two decades, handling creatures ranging from birds to bearded dragons, rabbits and ferrets.
South Korea's Si Woo Kim missed a birdie putt on No. 18 and lost his match to Keegan Bradley as the United States clinched another win over the International team at the Presidents Cup.
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On an eventful Saturday at the Presidents Cup, the U.S. took an 11-7 lead over an International team that saw big performances from the world's No. 1 ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler.
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A U.S. driver somehow squeezed her vehicle through a parkade hallway at a Metro Vancouver casino Thursday, before getting stuck at an elevator bank.
More than 12,000 vehicles in Canada are included in two separate recalls by Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
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A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.
An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
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Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice†to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.
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A disappointing season was capped with one final blow Sunday as the Toronto Blue Jays dropped a 3-1 decision to the Miami Marlins.
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CTVNewsOttawa.ca takes a look at some of the events in Ottawa and around the region marking the day.
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Kim Ruether lifted her son's eyelid and saw his still, dilated pupil staring at the ceiling as he lay on a stretcher in a northwestern Alberta hospital hallway a decade ago. She says she didn't need a doctor to tell her the boy was dead.
Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and A-list Hollywood actor, has died.
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The East Coast Ukrainian Festival kicked off at Pier 21 in Halifax on Saturday, celebrating Ukrainian culture and traditions.
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Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews believe a candle caused a major house fire in the city’s William Whyte neighbourhood Sunday afternoon.
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People in Guelph may notice a new addition at the entrance to Franchetto Park in Guelph.
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The fourth and final walk in memory of Megan Gallagher drew around one hundred people in Saskatoon on Sunday.
RCMP are seeking tips after a church on Main Street in Loon Lake burned to the ground.
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The CEO of the Ottawa Mission is responding to controversial comments made this week by Premier Doug Ford about those living in homeless encampments that received swift blowback from advocates.
A crash between a car and motorcycle closed a portion of Oxford St. in downtown London for several hours on Sunday.
On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.
The fourth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada is on Monday, Sept. 30.
A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
OPP officers arrested a suspect while he was in the middle of a possible theft Sunday morning in Wasaga Beach.
A Barrie police officer suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries while arresting a suspect Sunday afternoon.
Two and a half years after losing her best friend and first love to suicide, Brooke Ford shared her story of grief and resilience at the CMHA Windsor-Essex Suicide Awareness Walk.
The BSI aims to elevate Black academic excellence, promoting scholarship, mentorship, and cultural knowledge.
The fourth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada is on Monday, Sept. 30.
Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice†to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.
The fertility rate in Canda reached an all-time low in 2023, and the lowest rate was recorded in British Columbia, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
New Democrat Leader David Eby, speaking before his largest crowd of the provincial election campaign, says he's making a tax relief election promise that will benefit more than 90 per cent of people in British Columbia.
Fire crews in Vernon, B.C., responded to a large house fire early Saturday morning.
A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.
The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
The sentencing for three men convicted of helping lead and coordinate the COVID-19 protest blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 has been delayed.
A 10-year-old boy from Lethbridge is being praised as a hero after a routine summer outing at the pool nearly turned tragic for his friend.
A man and woman have been charged after a Lethbridge ice creamery was broken into earlier this week. Staff arrived at Cookie Crimes, in the 300 block of Sixth Street South, just before 5:30 a.m. on Monday to discover the front window broken.
Overnight on Thursday as the community of Elliot Lake was resting to prepare for the upcoming Kraft Hockeyville celebrations, when vandals struck a building that has been top of mind for the northern Ontario city for more than a year.
Ontario Provincial Police remind the public that ‘a case is never closed until it is solved,’ while highlighting the force's continued investigation of the 1996 disappearance of Melanie Ethier.
Sault residents may notice some commotion on the Algoma University campus over the next two weeks as a team conducts an archaeological search.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
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