Manhattan prosecutors Monday read to the jury transcripts of former President Donald Trump's notorious "Access Hollywood" tape, prompting one legal expert to describe the moment as both "cringy" and "damning."
The reading came after a fierce debate between district Attorney Alvin Bragg's team and Trump's lawyers over whether the video could be aired in Trump's criminal hush money trial and a ruling from Judge Juan Merchan ultimately okaying the transcript.
Speaking to MSNBC on Monday afternoon, legal analyst Lisa Rubin argued the ruling was almost an accidental victory for the prosecution.
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"Hearing it today in the words of Matthew Colangelo — whom I will describe as a sort of cerebral, quiet type of prosecutor — was just as damning," Rubin argued. "Do you want to hear the 'Access Hollywood' words out of the voice of someone normal and calm and polite? No! It was almost cringier."
This comment was spurred by a discussion of Hope Hicks, the former Trump aide slated to give testimony in Trump's hush money trial, in which he stands accused of falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors argue the 'Access Hollywood' tape — in which Trump can be heard boasting he can grab women "by the p----." proves show why the then-presidential candidate would have wanted to cover up anyone with a salacious story about him to
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"There is been a lot of discussion about what is Hope Hicks going to testify about," Rubin explained. "Probably the importance of that moment and why it was that paying off Stormy Daniels was actually essential. The tape was that explosive."
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace recalled the "Access Hollywood" tape on Oct. 7, 2016, just weeks before the presidential election. Some of Trump's top aides assumed that the campaign was over, she said.
"I understand Hope Hicks comes in and shows it to everybody," Wallace said. "The first thing is Trump talking about himself in the third person. The thing that takes the longest is to go upstairs and tell Melania. The conversation in the room: Is it over?"
See the discussion in the video below or at the link here.
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