One of the most satisfying portions of the deposition came when Kaplan asked Trump about the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape that emerged late in the 2016 contest, only to get lost in the thicket of news the very same day about the Kremlin hacking the DNC, including a massive dump of emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta.
“When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything,” Trump said in the leaked audio published by The Washington Post on Oct. 7, 2016, just one month before Election Day. He was never held accountable.
When Kaplan played the tape for him, Trump responded, “Well, historically that’s true with stars.”
Seizing on the statement, Kaplan asked whether he stood by it.
“Well, I guess if you look over the last million years, that’s been largely true — not always true, but largely true, unfortunately or fortunately,” Trump responded.
“And you consider yourself to be a star?” Kaplan pressed.
“I think so, yeah,” Trump said.
Okay. Taken to its logical conclusion, Trump thinks he can “do anything”—grab ’em, kiss ’em, force himself on ’em. After all, he’s a ‘star.’”
Next came the exchange in which Trump accidentally admitted that Carroll is indeed his exact type—as in, marriage material—despite his protestations to the contrary.
After Trump called Carroll’s accusation a “ridiculous, disgusting story” because she wasn’t his “type,” Kaplan pressed him on his lengthy history of denying similar assaults because the accusers weren’t his “type.” Trump angrily shot back, “You wouldn’t be a choice of mine, either, to be honest,” adding, “I wouldn’t in any circumstances have any interest in you.”
That must’ve been a relief to Kaplan. She isn’t just a lesbian, but as gay famous as lawyers come after winning the 2013 United States v. Windsor case striking down the Defense of Marriage Act. Two years later, that landmark Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for the high court to overturn same-sex marriage bans nationwide. Trump, sharp as a tack, either didn’t know, didn’t care, or forgot.
But now it was time for Kaplan to set her trap, asking, “I take it the three women you’ve married are all your type?”
“Yeah,” Trump replied.
Earlier in the deposition, Trump had confused a photo of Carroll for one of his wives. Shown a picture of himself interacting with Carroll at a party, Trump replied, “It’s Marla … That’s Marla, yeah. That’s my wife.”
To sum up: Trump’s a “star” who can therefore “do anything” to women who are his “type,” which Carroll most certainly was because she was apparently a doppelganger of his ex-wife, actress Marla Maples.
Case closed, both literally (both sides rested) and figuratively speaking.
But knowingly or unknowingly, Trump maintained his delusions right to the end, calling Carroll a “nut job” and reasserting that he didn’t know her (except for that one picture where he confused her for his wife).
The judge hearing the case, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, left open the possibility that Trump’s lawyers could make a motion by Sunday evening for their client to testify in his own defense. He certainly seemed to suggest he wanted to, speaking to reporters Thursday at an Irish golf course:
It’s a disgrace that it’s allowed to happen. It’s called false accusations against a rich guy — or in my case, against a famous, rich and political person that’s leading the polls by 40 points. And I have to go back for a woman that made a false accusation about me, and I have a judge who’s extremely hostile. And I’m going to go back, and I’m going to confront this. This woman is a disgrace, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen in our country.
In Trump’s telling, he’s the victim of a rape case for which he didn’t testify in person, his lawyers didn’t call a single witness, and they mounted no defense. As to whether he’ll fly back to speak on his own behalf, we’ll see, as Trump likes to say.
UPDATE: And we have video!
2023 may be an off-year, but that just means Virginia takes its traditional place as one of the key states to watch. With odd-year state elections, Virginia has often been a key bellwether for the rest of the country and this year is no different. Both the State Senate and the General Assembly are up and either party could win both chambers. Daily Kos Elections Editor Jeff Singer joins us to preview the key races in both the June primary and the fall general election.
