The judge will not delay Trump’s defamation lawsuit trial, calling the former president’s appeal frivolous

New York (AP) — A New York federal judge on Friday expressed growing impatience with what he described as “repeated efforts by former President Donald Trump to delay” defamation lawsuit against himsaying he would not halt the January trial pending the outcome of a “frivolous” appeal of one of his rulings.

Judge Louis A. Kaplan made the remarks in a written ruling because he criticized the arguments made by Trump’s lawyers in asking them to stop the 2019 civil lawsuits by a New York columnist who said Trump raped her in a luxurious Manhattan dressing room in the spring of 1996.

“This issue has largely stalled for years due in large part to Mr. Trump’s repeated efforts at delay,” Kaplan wrote. “Mr. Trump’s latest proposal to stay — his fourth such request — is yet another such attempt to unnecessarily delay the resolution of this matter.”

The ruling increases the likelihood that Trump will face a defamation lawsuit on January 15, just as primary season begins in his quest to become the Republican nominee for president next year. the Republican caucuses in Iowa They are taken into custody that day.

Meanwhile, Trump faces off Four criminal indictments in another place. In two cases, he has been accused of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He also faces a classified documents case in Florida and accusations that he helped arrange a payoff for pornographic actor Stormy Daniels to silence her before the 2016 election. He has denied all charges.

in May, The jury awarded Author E. Jean Carroll, $5 million in damages, concluded that she was sexually assaulted and defamed by Trump, even though she was not raped. Her attorneys are now seeking another $10 million in compensatory damages and “much more” in punitive damages for statements he made during the presidency and after the jury’s verdict.

The defamation portion of the award relates to comments Trump made last October when he refused to know Carroll and insisted that the sexual assault never happened and that he was never in the store with her.

Before reaching its verdict, the jury heard the 79-year-old give lengthy testimony about how her romantic life nearly ended after Trump turned a flirtatious, flirtatious encounter at a Bergdorf Goodman store into a violent attack. Trump, 77, did not attend the trial.

The defamation allegations related to statements made by Trump in 2019 after Carroll first revealed her rape allegations publicly in her memos and his notes following May’s sentencing in the January trial.

Carroll’s attorneys plan January’s trial to consist solely of the damages phase, building on the jury’s May verdict on the sexual assault.

Kaplan has rejected Trump’s claims that he deserves immunity because he was president when he was suspended in 2019.

His attorneys have asked Kaplan to put the January plans on hold, saying there is a high probability that Trump will be successful on appeal.

Kaplan said Friday that the arguments were “without merit” and that Trump “has shown no prospect of success on appeal.”

Thus, Kaplan ruled, “This court certifies that Mr. Trump’s appeal is frivolous.”

Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.