A federal judge denied a request to stay a defamation lawsuit against former president Donald Trump by a woman who claims he raped her two decades ago.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected the request made in December without any explanation. However, the decision on Wednesday was made “without prejudice,” meaning Trump’s legal team can try to get it delayed again.
The suit revolves around New York columnist E. Jean Carroll who alleges Trump raped her in the 1990s at a New York department store. Trump denied the story when asked by a reporter in 2019, claiming Carroll was not his type and that she fabricated the story to boost her book sales. Carroll then sued him for defamation.
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Last year, Kaplan rejected an effort to have the Justice Department replace Trump’s personal lawyers in defending him in the case. The Justice Department under both Trump’s and Joe Biden’s administrations have said Trump acted within his role as a government employee when responding to the reporter’s questions.
The DOJ wrote courts have sided with government officials in the past regarding press statements about matters of public interest or the official’s private life.
In his ruling last year, Kaplan said, “While commenting on the operation of government is part of the regular business of the United States, commenting on sexual assault allegations unrelated to the operation of government is not.”
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Trump and the DOJ appealed Kaplan’s decision to an appeals court, which is expected to hear oral arguments later this year.
“We’re looking forward to oral argument in our case before the Second Circuit during the week of November 29,” said Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, in a statement. “In the meantime, we are reviewing Judge Kaplan’s order.”
