'Access Hollywood' Tape Rattled Trump's Campaign, Hicks Recalls in Testimony

Hope Hicks, a former spokeswoman for Donald J. Trump, described during testimony in his criminal trial on Friday that the release of the so-called "Access Hollywood" tape shook his campaign in 2016.

About a month before Mr. Trump was elected president that year, The Washington Post revealed the recording of him bragging about grabbing women's genitals, saying he could do so with abandon because "when you're a star, they let you do it."

"You can do anything," Mr. Trump said on the recording, which was captured on the set of "Access Hollywood."

On the stand Friday, Ms. Hicks was shown an email she forwarded to senior campaign staff after The Post asked for comment about the tape. Ms. Hicks wrote: "deny, deny, deny."

Prosecutors in Manhattan say the emergence of the tape led Mr. Trump to agree to pay off Stormy Daniels, a porn star, who at the time had been shopping her story of a 2006 sexual encounter with the candidate.

Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former fixer, paid Ms. Daniels $130,000. The payment is at the heart of the 34 felony charges against Mr. Trump, who is accused of falsifying business records to cover it up.

The judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, had ruled in March that prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office could question witnesses about the tape, but found that it would be prejudicial to play the actual video. He reaffirmed that ruling on April 15.

"You can bring out what was said in the tape," Justice Merchan said, adding that he didn't want jurors "to hear Mr. Trump's voice and his gestures."

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Donald Trump's Lewd Comments About Women

In a 2005 recording obtained by The Washington Post before the presidential election, Donald J. Trump talks about women in vulgar terms to Billy Bush, then the host of "Access Hollywood."

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In a victory for the defense, the judge also ruled that day that the prosecution could not introduce evidence about sexual assault allegations against Mr. Trump that arose after the tape became public, calling them "complete hearsay."

However, Justice Merchan said that prosecutors could introduce emails that followed the tape's disclosure, showing frantic efforts by Trump advisers to contain the fallout. The correspondence, he said, "bolsters the people's claim that this was a crucial event."

Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, had called on Justice Merchan to reconsider admitting "this extremely salacious evidence," which he described as "very prejudicial."

Mr. Trump, who is again the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has denied any wrongdoing and has cast the case against him as politically motivated.