The judge in Donald Trump's New York criminal trial will not allow prosecutors to play the infamous Access Hollywood tape that Trump described grabbing women sexually without their permission in the tape.

But Judge Juan M. Merchan will allow parts of the transcript to be read as it related to an email chain in which his campaign staff reacts to to its release.

Prosecutors will be allowed to read out the full Trump quote "grab them by the pussy" because of the decision, the Guardian reported.

They will also be able to use an email chain where Hope Hicks forwarded the transcript to Kellyanne Conway asking if it was Trump's voice.

Conway involved former Trump fixer Michael Cohen who was doing damage control at the time.

Assistant District Attorney Steinglass called the transcript "powerful evidence of the campaign's reaction to the incendiary language contained in the Access Hollywood video," the Associated Press reported.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that Trump helped falsify business records to cover up payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims that she had sex with the former president.

Prosecutors say that Trump concealed his reimbursement of the payments by Cohen and committed 34 felonies in the process while trying to keep Daniels out of the public eye ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

The former president has pleaded not guilty and has repeatedly denied having an affair.

The first step in the historic criminal trial - the first ever of a former president - is selecting a jury. The selection could take days.