Trump asks judge to ban ‘Access Hollywood’ tape for civil rape trial 

Donald Trump doesn’t want a jury in his upcoming civil rape trial to hear about a vulgar “Access Hollywood” tape on which he bragged about groping women without their consent.

Lawyers for the former president asked Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan late Thursday to bar E. Jean Carroll’s attorneys from introducing the 2005 tape into evidence because it’s “irrelevant and highly prejudicial.”

A hot mic captured Trump’s boasting to “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush about groping women without their consent in the 2005 comments.  

“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” Trump blabbed on the tape.

“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. “Grab ’em by the p—-,” he declared.

Carroll, a former columnist for Elle magazine, filed her suit against Trump in November after New York state temporarily changed laws to allow adult rape victims to sue their abusers, even if the attacks occurred decades ago.

Carroll, 79, claimed Trump defamed her when he publicly denied her accusations that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in the early 1990s.

Trump’s lawyers also asked the judge to prevent testimony from two women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct — and to ban references to his campaign speeches.

Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied he ever sexually assaulted anyone, and brushed off his “Access Hollywood” comments as “locker-room talk”.

A trial is set for April 24; both Trump and Carroll are expected to testify.