Judge slams door on Trump’s last-minute attempt to delay Tuesday’s E. Jean Carroll trial

12 January 2024

Former President Donald Trump's 3:59 PM plea to US District Judge Lewis F. Kaplan to delay writer E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial against the ex-president fell flat Friday night.

Trump, for his part, argued postponement was necessary as his wife, Melania, was grieving the death of her mother. The ex-president sought to push back the trial by one week so the Trumps could attend the funeral and burial of Amalija Knavs in Florida, who died on January 9. However, while Judge Kaplan offered "condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Trump and the rest of Ms. Knavs' family," the trial would move ahead as scheduled for 9:30 AM on Tuesday, January 16.

"Mr. Trump is free to attend the trial, the funeral, or all or parts of both as he wishes," Kaplan wrote in the letter tweeted by MSNBC contributor Lisa Rubin. Kaplan also noted that Trump emailed the request to postpone at 3:59 PM at "the start of the holiday weekend."

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Trump has not fared well in the appeals process so far when it comes to the E. Jean Carroll case. His argument that he enjoyed absolute immunity from civil actions was shot down by both Judge Kaplan and by the 2nd Circuit US Court of Appeals — both by a 2nd Circuit panel and the full circuit following Trump's en banc motion. Then, his request for a 90-day stay on the trial was rejected by the 2nd Circuit when Trump's lawyers argued they needed the extra time to consider their appeal options.

In the January 16 trial in New York (one day after the Iowa Republican Caucuses) a jury will decide how much Trump is liable to pay Carroll, as the ex-president has already been found liable for both sexual abuse and for defamation. Carroll's current defamation claim stems from a 2019 incident in which Trump suggested that Carroll fabricated her sexual assault allegations against him due to financial incentives.

On Friday, Carroll's lead attorney Roberta Kaplan (no relation to the judge) filed a four-page motion asking Judge Kaplan to establish ground rules for the upcoming trial, including making Trump say under oath that he understands he cannot dispute the sexual assault and/or defamation claims.

"There is no basis for Trump to offer lay opinion testimony about the harm that Ms. Carroll has experienced," Carroll's attorney wrote.

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