Trump's lawyers are getting 'totally outmaneuvered' in civil rape trial: expert

Lawyers for Donald Trump are trying to block a woman who accused him of forcibly kissing her from testifying in his upcoming rape and defamation civil trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.

Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina asked the judge to reconsider whether Trump's alleged forced kissing of Natasha Stoynoff after pushing her against a wall should be brought up during trial.

"You will recall that Ms Stoynoff testified in her deposition that Defendant escorted her into a room, and then grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against a wall and started kissing her. Then someone allegedly came into the room and the incident ceased. Defendant's motion in limine sought to exclude this testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence 413(d). Your Honor denied our Motion; however, we request clarification with a proposed solution," Tacopina wrote in the motion.

Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll's allegation that he sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s. Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019 and later added a charge of battery after New York's laws on statutes of limitations regarding civil lawsuits were updated.

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Speaking to Salon, former U.S. attorney and current law professor at the University of Michigan, Barb McQuade, said these kinds of motions "are fairly typical just before trial starts."

Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman tweeted that the upcoming trial will be one to watch.

"Trump's lawyer in E Jean Carroll case, Joe Tacopina, is getting totally outmaneuvered," tweeted Litman. "He is trying to get judge to revisit ruling about one of the women who will testify that Trump assaulted them. It's too late for that though. And the evidence will be brutal."