NEW YORK — A federal judge scolded former President Donald Trump on Friday for waging “futile” and relentless delay tactics in a defamation lawsuit and rejected the former president’s effort to countersue his rape accuser.
Judge Lewis Kaplan’s scorching remarks came in a decision turning down Trump’s bid to invoke a New York law against frivolous litigation while fighting E. Jean Carroll’s case against him.
The lawsuit by the magazine journalist says Trump lied when he denied her rape accusation.
Approving use of the statute would have enabled Trump to sue Carroll for attorneys’ fees if he prevailed in the case.
“(Trump’s) litigation tactics, whatever their intent, have delayed the case to an extent that readily could have been far less,” Kaplan wrote.
The judge detailed a laundry list of legal gambits Trump has tried since 2019 when Carroll initially filed her complaint and he attempted to dodge service of it at his Manhattan residence and the White House.
“Taken together,” wrote Kaplan, the strategies “strongly suggest that he is acting out of a strong desire to delay any opportunity (Carroll) may have to present her case against him.”
Kaplan added that the relevance of a 78-year-old Carroll being the alleged attack’s only witness “is obvious” when considering why Trump might seek to delay her case.
The anti-SLAPP bill, signed into law by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019, was created by state lawmakers to deter powerful entities from bringing frivolous lawsuits as a means to silence criticism.
Ironically, legislators said Trump’s propensity for suing his detractors inspired them to draft it.
His decision said nothing in the statute would defeat Carroll’s claims if they’re true and allowing Trump to invoke the law would unduly prejudice his rape accuser.
“Which, in my view, is a motive for (Trump’s) position on this motion,” Kaplan wrote.
Kaplan had previously disputed whether Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba could cite the New York law in his case now that it has been moved to Manhattan Federal Court.
Habba said her client is undeterred.
“While we are disappointed with the court’s decision today, we eagerly look forward to litigating this action and proving at trial that the plaintiff’s claims have absolutely no basis in law or in fact,” Habba said.
Lawyer Roberta Kaplan said she and Carroll “could not agree with more” with the judge’s ruling.
Initially filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Carroll’s lawsuit was transferred to federal court when Trump moved to swap himself out as a defendant and be represented by the Justice Department, which Kaplan denied.
The case is on hold while the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals mulls a make-or-break decision on Trump’s appeal of that ruling.
The magazine columnist says Trump defamed her when he called her a liar and “not my type” in response to allegations he raped her at Bergdorf Goodman’s in the mid-1990s.
Carroll no longer wants to depose Trump in the suit. She only wants a sample of his DNA to compare with semen on the dress she was wearing during the alleged assault. She says she never washed the dress.
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