Former president Donald Trump was questioned for four and a half hours Monday by lawyers for a group of protesters who have sued him, alleging that Trump’s security guards assaulted them in 2015, one of the lawyers said. Trump’s testimony was recorded on video so that it could be played at a trial in the suit. That arrangement allowed Trump to avoid testifying in person.

In a statement, Trump denied the protesters’ claims and said he was happy to testify. “After years of litigation, I was pleased to have had the opportunity to tell my side of this ridiculous story,” he said in the statement.

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