Judge Denies Trump Request to Delay January Trial With E. Jean Carroll

(Left) President Donald Trump comes out of the Oval Office from the White House on Sept. 16, 2019. (Right) E. Jean Carroll (C) leaves following her trial at Manhattan Federal Court in New York on May 8, 2023. Mandel Ngan, Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

A federal judge has denied the latest request to delay trial for a defamation lawsuit E. Jean Carroll brought against former President Donald Trump, writing that “the appeal itself is frivolous.”

Ms. Carroll brought the suit against the former president in 2019, and district judge Lewis Kaplan wrote that the trial has yet to begin largely due to President Trump’s “repeated efforts to delay,” and that he has already made four such requests.

This is the first of two civil lawsuits Ms. Carroll has brought against President Trump. On May 9, she won $5 million in her second lawsuit, and then amended her first lawsuit, seeking $10 million in compensatory damages after a grand jury found him liable.

President Trump responded on social media with a lengthy post, claiming he had “never met her or touched her,” denying her allegations and claiming her stories were false and “a total scam” that was “part of the Democrats playbook to tarnish my name and person.”

He had brought a countersuit against Ms. Carroll, which was thrown out earlier this month.

Last December, President Trump filed a motion asserting presidential immunity for his 2019 statements, which the court rejected and he appealed. The latest request to delay the trial was based on the need to wait for his latest appeal.

“Mr. Trump contends that this case should be stayed pending appeal because (1) there is a substantial likelihood he will succeed in his appeal, (2) he would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a stay, (3) a stay would not harm Ms. Carroll, and (4) the public interest favors a stay. His argument fails on each criterion,” Judge Kaplan wrote.

In addition to the civil case, set to begin trial on Jan. 15, 2024, President Trump is also facing a possible Jan. 2, 2024 criminal trial in Washington over his challenging the 2020 elections. His legal team has requested a delay to 2026 given the scale of the case.

Carroll Lawsuits

In 2019, Ms. Carroll made statements that in the mid-1990s, President Trump allegedly sexually assaulted her in a department store, after which he issued public statements that he had never met her and made up the accusation for improper and ulterior purposes. This lawsuit regards defamation in the public statements President Trump made.

The case was initially in the state court, where President Trump requested a delay because he was defending another case, but the request was denied. The case was then moved to federal court.

Later, the Department of Justice filed a motion on his behalf arguing that, as an “employee” of the United States, he made his public statement “within the scope of his employment as president” and therefore, under the Westfall Act, the defendant should be named the United States. This was also denied.

When the court denied a third appeal for a delay, it wrote “The defendant should not be permitted to run the clock out on plaintiff’s attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong.”

During that time, Ms. Carroll had brought a second lawsuit against President Trump over the alleged rape. After a weeklong trial, a jury found that Ms. Carroll did not prove he had raped her but also found that he had sexually abused her, and awarded her compensation for a battery offense and a defamation in denying the incident in a separate public statement, on social media, that was similar to his 2019 statement.

President Trump’s request for a delay claims that a delay would cause Ms. Carroll minimal harm, which the court rejected.

“His argument mistakenly conflates the relief Ms. Carroll was awarded in Carroll II (which now is pending on appeal) and the relief she seeks for the distinct injuries she allegedly suffered as a result of the alleged defamation asserted in this case,” Judge Kaplan wrote.

“She now is 79 years old and, as just mentioned, has been litigating this case for more than three and a half years. There is no basis to risk prolonging the resolution of this litigation further by permitting Mr. Trump to raise his absolute immunity defense now at the eleventh hour when he could have done so years ago.”

Other Trial Dates

In addition to the Jan. 2, 2024 trial date proposed by prosecution special counsel Jack Smith in the criminal case President Trump faces, he is looking at a May 2024 trial date in a criminal case where he allegedly mishandled classified documents.

In New York, a separate criminal case alleging mishandling business finances is set for March 2024.

In another case related to the 2020 elections, in state court as it relates to the Georgia general elections, prosecutor Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed a trial date of March 4, 2024.

Members of President Trump’s legal team have insisted several of these dates are rushed and they have requested later trial dates. In most cases, they have asked to postpone cases until after the 2024 elections, but have not yet seen any success.