Former President Donald Trump lost his bid to delay a defamation suit by a woman who claims he raped her in the 1990s, all but assuring that he will be deposed by his accuser’s lawyers next week.
A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Trump’s recent victory in a preliminary appeal wasn’t sufficient reason to put on hold the suit by New York columnist E. Jean Carroll. That means Trump’s Oct. 19 deposition will go forward as scheduled.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote that he believed Trump ultimately would lose his appeal, and that allowing long-delayed depositions and the exchange of evidence in the meantime would not create an “undue burden” on Trump. He said further delays were a “serious concern” given how long the case had already been pending and how long the next round of the appeal could take.
Kaplan also criticized the former president for pursuing “dilatory” litigation tactics and said he should not be “permitted to run the clock out on plaintiff’s attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong.”
Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump had asked to delay the case after he won part of his appeal over whether Carroll’s suit is barred by a statute that broadly protects government workers from lawsuits related to their job duties. In a Sept. 27 ruling, the federal appeals court in New York agreed with Trump that presidents qualify as government employees but asked the highest local court in Washington, the D.C. Court of Appeals, to decide the separate issue of whether his allegedly defamatory remarks fell within his official duties.
Habba had argued that the appeals court’s ruling on the first question was enough for Trump to be removed from the case and allow the Justice Department to take his place as defendant. But Kaplan said the second question must be resolved before Trump can sidestep Carroll’s allegations.
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, expressed satisfaction with ruling and noted that Carroll also planned to bring a claim against Trump under a New York law temporarily lifting the statute of limitations on sexual assault suits. Since it wouldn’t bear on Trump’s conduct in office, such a claim would be unaffected by the appeal.
“We are pleased that Judge Kaplan agreed with our position not to stay discovery in this case,” Kaplan said. “We look forward to filing our case under the Adult Survivors Act and moving forward to trial with all dispatch.”
Carroll accused Trump in 2019 of raping her two decades earlier in a Manhattan department store dressing room. She sued the then-president for defamation after he denied her claims in blunt terms. The deposition will cover all aspects of Carroll’s claims, including the alleged assault.
The judge also chastised Trump’s legal team for characterizing Carroll’s position in the case as “asinine,” writing in a footnote, “The Court will not tolerate by counsel such inappropriate language again.”
Wednesday’s ruling means that other depositions in the case will also proceed, including those of two women who also claim Trump sexually assaulted them. Carroll believes the testimony will help prove Trump has a pattern of such behavior.
