E. Jean Carroll reacts as she exits the Manhattan Federal Court following the verdict in the civil rape accusation case against former U.S. President Donald Trump, in New York City, May 9, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
A federal appeals court on Wednesday denied a bid by Donald Trump to delay a defamation lawsuit by the writer E. Jean Carroll, but granted him an expedited appeal on the question of whether he is protected from her claim because of absolute presidential immunity.
The order, issued by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, is a partial victory for Trump after a series of significant losses in two lawsuits that Carroll filed against him related to her allegation of being raped by him in the mid-1990s in a New York department store.
Barring further action by that appeals court or the Supreme Court, the second of Carroll’s suits is headed for trial in mid-January in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Carroll’s lawyer Robbie Kaplan in a statement said, “We look forward both to the January 15 trial on damages and to making our arguments to the Second Circuit that Donald Trump waived presidential immunity.”
A lawyer for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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