Trump Lawyers Release Video of Kiss With Campaign Staffer Suing Him for Assault and Battery

Lawyers for President Donald Trump released video of what appears to be a very innocent kiss between Trump and campaign staffer Alva Johnson who is suing the president for an alleged nonconsensual kiss that took place during her work on his 2016 campaign.

In a February lawsuit filed in Florida, 43-year-old Johnson said Trump had grabbed her hand and kissed her on the lips while he was getting out of an RV during a campaign rally trip on August 24, 2016, in Tampa, Florida. Johnson told the Washington Post he had leaned in for a kiss when she accidentally turned her head, and the kiss landed on the side of her mouth, which was “super-creepy and inappropriate.”

“I immediately felt violated because I wasn’t expecting it or wanting it,” she told the Post. “I can still see his lips coming straight for my face.”

In a court filing, lawyer Charles Harder writes, “The video shows that Plaintiff’s allegations in the Complaint that Mr. Trump ‘forcibly’ kissed her, and kissed her ‘on the mouth,’ are entirely false,”  and calls the suit “unmeritorious and frivolous.”

The kiss revealed in the video appears to be an innocent and rather pedestrian peck on the cheek greeting in what appears to be a crowded room where Trump and Johnson are surrounded by others. The video was captured by campaign volunteer Brian Hayes,  who claimed in legal filings that he was present in the RV at the time of the interaction and recorded the video on his phone.

Johnson has claimed that she was on the receiving end of an unwanted and forcible kiss from Trump. During an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes specifically described the alleged advance:

“I wasn’t close to him and I was wearing the baseball cap, but he had to pass me on his way exiting the RV. As he passed me, I said, ‘You go and do a good job, you kick ass, because I’ve been away from my family for a long time.’ And he stopped and he grabs my hand and he starts looking at me… He said, ‘I’m going to do a job, I’m not going to let you down. I know you’ve been away from your family.’ And he’s holding my hand, holding my hand, and then he starts coming towards me and so he’s still holding my hand, and I just had a lot of internal dialogue — like is he going to hug me? And then he keeps coming closer and I’m like ok is he going to hug and then I’m like oh my god I think he’s gonna kiss me, ’cause he was coming directly for my face. I mean, this is with the bill of the baseball cap. And when I realize he’s going to kiss my lips, I turn my mouth, he caught me right in the corner of my mouth and I was just kind of frozen. I didn’t know how to process it. I knew it was inappropriate because I worked in human resources. So I knew it was completely inappropriate, it was gross and creepy. Like I can sometimes still see those lips which — and so he walked out.”

Johnson’s attorney Hassan Zavareei sees the video in a positive light for Johnson. According to reporting by Politico, Zavareei said, “We are gratified and pleased that we finally have proof what Ms. Johnson has been alleging in this lawsuit,” adding, “It is basically exactly what Ms. Johnson has been saying.”

The interaction presented in the video embedded above — which includes a second cut slowed down to 25% speed, also released by the Trump legal team — is the same interaction Johnson described above, it is difficult to imagine this case proceeding with merit.