Former US President Donald Trump and his wife at Morristown Airport, New Jersey in July 2019 (Illustration photo: AFP).
Judge Lewis Kaplan in New York state on April 13 rejected a request from former President Trump's lawyers to postpone the trial of the defamation case against Trump by journalist E. Jean Carroll. Accordingly, the trial will still take place on April 25 as scheduled.
The argument put forward by Mr Trump's lawyers is that Ms Carroll received financial help from billionaire Reid Hoffman, one of the Democratic Party's major donors, in pursuing the lawsuit. Therefore, the former President Trump's legal team believes that this lawsuit has been " politicized ".
In his April 13 ruling, Judge Kaplan said Hoffman’s appearance “did not directly affect” Carroll’s lawsuit against former President Trump. However, the Manhattan judge allowed Trump’s legal team to continue investigating how Carroll paid her legal fees.
Journalist Carroll accused Mr. Trump of "raping" her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York in late 1995. The incident seemed to have faded into the past until Ms. Carroll spoke out in 2019.
Female journalist E. Jean Carroll appearing in court in New York in October 2020 (Photo: Reuters).
Mr. Trump later denied Ms. Carroll’s accusations, calling her actions a “scam,” “lie,” and “fraud.” These inappropriate words were the basis for Ms. Carroll to sue Mr. Trump for defamation. In her lawsuit, she also asked the court to consider Mr. Trump’s rape allegations even though the statute of limitations on the case had expired.
Carroll’s lawsuit could push the former US President deeper into legal trouble. On April 12, Mr. Trump had to be present in New York to attend the testimony of the team of prosecutors led by New York Attorney General Letitia James related to the alleged commercial fraud of the Trump Organization.
Previously, on April 4, former US President Donald Trump appeared before Judge Juan Manuel Merchan at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. Here, he was informed of the indictment charging him with 34 counts related to commercial fraud.
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