Media Companies Sue to Get Trump Divorce Records

Two media companies have asked a judge to make public Donald Trump’s 1990 divorce records, contending they're "directly relevant" to the presidential campaign, USA Today reports. After 14 years of marriage, Ivana Trump cited "cruel and inhuman treatment" when filing for divorce. Though Donald Trump's lawyer at the time told the New York Times the cruelty stemmed from his public appearances with Marla Maples, news of a divorce deposition in which Ivana alleged she had been sexually assaulted by her husband surfaced a few years later and again bubbled up during the campaign. The New York Times Co. and Gannett Co. on Thursday asked a New York judge to unseal the records.

The media companies made the case that doing so would "resolve [that] ongoing campaign controversy" and provide info to voters about the GOP candidate's character. A 1993 biography described the alleged 1989 incident by way of the deposition. Ivana Trump accused her husband of "rape," according to the Daily Beast, but later added that while she felt "violated," it was not "in a literal or criminal sense" and she and "Donald are the best of friends." The book claimed the alleged episode was in retaliation following a botched scalp surgery that infuriated Trump. He has insisted both the assault and the scalp surgery never happened. (A Trump aide apologized in 2015 for saying "you can’t rape your spouse.")