US appeals court strikes down Trump’s last-ditch effort to halt E. Jean Carroll trial

Former President Donald Trump once again has to hope the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will save him from legal accountability following a recent decision handed down by a federal appeals court.

The US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit — which has jurisdiction over Connecticut, New York and Vermont — ruled Wednesday that writer E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial against the former president can move forward with its original date of January 16. The full 2nd Circuit's decision upholds the 2nd Circuit panel's ruling last week denying Trump's request to implement a 90-day stay on legal proceedings.

Trump's lawyers argued the stay was necessary while the ex-president and his legal team considered their appeal options. However, following Wednesday's ruling, the only avenue Trump has left is SCOTUS. Should the Court not issue a writ of certiorari agreeing to take the case, the 2nd Circuit's decision will stand.

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Carroll, who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s, has already been awarded $5 million by a jury who found the former president liable for sexual abuse in 2023. Her defamation stems from Trump's 2019 claim that she fabricated the allegations as a means of enriching herself.

While Carroll argued Trump's statement was defamatory, Trump claimed for his part that he couldn't be held accountable for those remarks, as they were made while he was president of the United States. The 2nd Circuit struck down that immunity claim in a separate December ruling.

If the E. Jean Carroll trial begins January 16 as scheduled, it would mark Trump's second time in a New York courtroom in less than four months. It would also notably take place one day after the Iowa Caucuses, where the former president is heavily favored to win the vast majority of delegates. According to The Messenger, because Trump has already been found to have defamed Carroll, the January 16 trial will only be for the jury to determine how much the ex-president should be made to pay.

His ongoing civil fraud trial, in which New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in financial penalties against the Trump Organization for submitting false valuations of real estate holdings to state authorities, is set to reach its conclusion as soon as this month. Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump committed "widespread fraud," and the New York supreme court has upheld that ruling. However, Trump could still potentially lose his ability to hold an officer position in any New York-based corporation in the future.

READ MORE: US appeals court panel hands Trump another loss in E. Jean Carroll case