Trump seeks to block past accusers from testifying in defamation trial

Former President Donald Trump is asking the Southern District Court of New York to block two women who previously accused him of sexual assault from testifying in a defamation trial this spring.

Author E. Jean Carroll, who alleges Trump raped her in the 1990s, filed a defamation suit against the former president after he denied her allegation. The case is scheduled to go to trial in April.

Carroll intends to call Natasha Stoynoff and Jessica Leeds for the trial to testify against Trump. Both women came forward with allegations against him in 2016.

Stoynoff alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her while she was attempting to interview Trump and his wife for People Magazine in 2005. Leeds accused Trump of kissing and groping her while on a flight in the 1980s.

Trump’s lawyers argue that the witnesses should not be brought to trial because their allegations — which Trump denies — are unrelated to Carroll’s case.

The motion from Trump’s lawyers also seeks to prevent the use of the “Access Hollywood” tape from the trial, in which Trump was captured on a hot mic bragging about groping women.

Carroll’s lawyers say the two women’s testimony should be allowed because it “evidences Trump’s modus operandi of forcing himself on nonconsenting women.”

In their response, Carroll’s lawyers also seek to prevent Trump’s lawyers from asking questions relating to DNA at the trial. 

Carroll originally sought DNA from Trump and he refused; however, that changed last week when Trump offered a DNA sample in exchange for Carroll turning over additional documents to the court. A judge denied Trump’s offer, calling it a delay tactic and a ‘quid pro quo’.

Carroll filed a new, separate suit against Trump last November, following a new law in New York that enables sexual assault victims to sue their abusers after the statute of limitations had previously expired. Trump lawyers argue that the law violates the state’s constitution.