Trump deposition video set for releaseBy JOSH GERSTEIN
09/30/16 11:07 AM EDT
A video of Donald Trump testifying under oath about his provocative rhetoric about Mexicans and other Latinos is set to go public as soon as Friday, drawing new attention to those comments just weeks before voters cast their ballots in the presidential race.
Trump gave the testimony in June at a law office in Washington in connection with one of two lawsuits he filed last year after prominent chefs reacted to the controversy over his remarks by pulling out of plans to open restaurants at his new D.C. hotel.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Brian Holeman said in an order issued Thursday evening that fears the testimony might show up in campaign commercials were no basis to keep the public from seeing the video.
"This Court finds that Plaintiff has not demonstrated that any subject video deposition contains scandalous, libelous, or other unduly prejudicial material warranting denial of media access," Holeman wrote. "The public shall not be held captive by the suggested eventuality of partisan editing in a manner unfavorable to Plaintiff or the deponents."
Lawyers for Trump previously requested that the video of his deposition, as well as those of his son Donald Jr. and his daughter Ivanka, be sealed, but the judge denied that request. However, the videos remained inaccessible because they were filed directly with judge's chambers and the court's docketing system doesn't allow access to exhibits like videos.
Transcripts of the testimony in the suit Trump filed against companies connected with restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian have already been made public.
However, last month, lawyers for a variety of news organizations filed motions asking Holeman to release the videos. Pressing for the recordings were Buzzfeed, CNN, The Washington Post, NBC, ABC, CBS, and The Los Angeles Times.
Last week, the judge rejected motions from both sides seeking early victories in the case. Trump's side argued that his comments in the context of a political campaign could not legally amount to a breach of the contract with Zakarian. Zakarian's lawyers contend the remarks, including references to Mexicans as "rapists," made operation of the planned restaurant untenable because of impacts on both staffing and business.
Holeman said too many factual issues remained in dispute and indicated the case would have to go trial to resolve those questions.
The judge's decision to release the deposition videos is at odds with the result reached last month by a federal judge Trump repeatedly excoriated. U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is handling a pair of federal lawsuits alleging fraud in the Trump University real estate seminar program, declined a similar media request for the videos of Trump's depositions in those cases. Curiel said there was no substantial public interest served by releasing the videos, since transcripts in those cases were also public.
Holeman, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said the D.C. case was different, in part because no jury trial is expected.
"Here, in the absence of a jury trial, any concerns of undue prejudice arising from selection of jurors are baseless," the judge wrote.
Attorneys for Trump and Zakarian declined to comment on the judge's ruling.
Trump is also pursuing a separate lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court against companies connected to popular Washington chef Jose Andres. He also backed out of plans to open an eatery at the Trump International Hotel in the Old Post Office Building complex on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The hotel, which opened earlier this month, features a BLT Prime steakhouse. While the other two planned restaurants would have been leased by outsiders who were primarily responsible for the eateries' success, the steakhouse is simply managed by BLT, with Trump's companies on the hook financially.
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