One Word Made Trump's Access Hollywood Remarks Even Worse: Kirschner

One word used by former President Donald Trump to justify his previous remarks from an Access Hollywood tape may have made him the "most damaging witness" against himself in the civil suit brought by E. Jean Carroll, according to former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner.

A Manhattan jury found the former president liable for sexual assault and defamation on Tuesday after Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a New York department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, was awarded $5 million in total damages.

The trial lasted two weeks and consisted of Carroll and 10 other witnesses testifying on her behalf, including two women who swore under oath that Trump also sexually assaulted them years ago. Trump never appeared in court to testify in his own defense, and his legal team never called any witnesses to the stand.

Kirschner, a legal analyst and avid critic of the former president, broke down a few of the takeaways from Trump's verdict in his latest Justice Matters podcast episode Wednesday, including singling out a video deposition of the former president from October that was played before the jury.

During the video, Trump is asked by Carroll's lawyer about statements he made in the infamous Access Hollywood audio clip that was leaked prior to the 2016 presidential election, in which the former president brags to host Billy Bush about being able to "grab" women whenever he wants because he is famous.

Trump defended his statements during his deposition, saying, "Well, historically, that's true with a star."

"Well, if you look over the last million years, I guess that's been largely true," he continued. "Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately, or fortunately."

Kirschner said Trump's justification during the deposition made his statements in the Access Hollywood tape that much "more mind-blowingly despicable," and highlighted the former president's choice of the word "fortunately."

"He said 'fortunately, when you're a star, they let you do it.' Fortunately, or unfortunately," Kirschner said. "So Donald Trump confessed. He may have been the most damaging witness against Donald Trump. He confessed that his habit, his pattern, his practice, his right as a star was to sexually assault women."

Newsweek has previously reached out to Trump's press team regarding his deposition tape.

Kirschner added in his podcast that another main takeaway from Tuesday's verdict was that the jury chose to believe Carroll and other sexual assault victims' testimonies against Trump, even though the accusations were made several decades after Carroll's encounter with the former president.

"One of the main and most important takeaways, sexual assault victims are worthy of belief," Kirschner said.

"And delayed reporting is entirely usual in sexual assault cases," he continued. "I mean, what victim would want to be dragged through the mud, demonized, abused, defamed? What sexual assault victim would want to have to sit in a public forum like an open court and be called a liar hour after hour?"

"When somebody is being sexually assaulted, there are all kinds of reactions. People go into shock," the former prosecutor continued. "People are fearful. They are scared to death that the violence will escalate if they scream ... So that, I contend, is one of the most important takeaways from this historic verdict in favor of a sexual assault and defamation victim."

Despite Carroll providing graphic detail about her sexual assault, the jury did not find the former president liable for rape, and the former president will not serve any jail time since the allegations were brought against him in a civil lawsuit.

Trump was also found liable for defaming Carroll by calling her allegations a "con job" and "a Hoax and a lie" in a Truth Social post in October. He has maintained since the verdict that the accusations are false and part of a "witch hunt" against him.

Following the verdict on Tuesday, a Trump spokesperson told Newsweek, "The Democratic Party's never-ending witch-hunt of President Trump hit a new low today. In jurisdictions wholly controlled by the Democratic Party our nation's justice system is now compromised by extremist left-wing politics. We have allowed false and totally made-up claims from troubled individuals to interfere with our elections, doing great damage."

The spokesperson also indicated that Trump's defense team intends to appeal, adding, "and we will ultimately win."