A federal judge on Thursday denied former President Trump’s request to postpone an $83.3 million judgment in advice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, posting bail just days away. He refused to grant Trump a reprieve.
The former president and near-certain Republican nominee has stepped up efforts to delay sentencing in both Carroll’s case and a massive fraud prosecution brought by New York’s attorney general, and Trump has stepped up efforts to delay sentencing in both the Carroll case and the New York attorney general’s massive fraud prosecution. The focus is on hundreds of millions of dollars in fines in the interim.
Thursday’s ruling hurt Trump by upholding a default rule that would allow Carroll’s lawsuit judgment to be enforced as early as next week, effectively creating a deadline for Trump to post bond.
“Mr. Trump’s current situation is the result of his own diplomatic actions,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said in the ruling.
A federal jury in New York awarded Trump an eight-figure award decades ago for defaming Carroll by denying her story when she accused the then-president of sexual assault in 2019. ordered to pay. Last year, another jury found Trump responsible for sexually assaulting an advice columnist.
Following standard practice, Trump’s lawyers said his bail would total $91.63 million as he appeals his January ruling.
President Trump has filed motions in recent days seeking a retrial of the case and a reduction in damages. President Trump asked Kaplan, who was appointed to the court by former President Clinton, to postpone sentencing until 30 days after the judge rules on these motions or reduce his bail to $24.475 million. Was.
Judge Kaplan has not yet ruled on the delay request, but on Thursday the justices rejected President Trump’s recent request for an administrative stay in the interim to meet Saturday’s deadline.
“This is a continuation of a completely lawless witch hunt,” Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan said in a statement. “President Trump filed a timely motion to block this ridiculous ruling, and many courts, including the Second Circuit, have ruled that an administrative moratorium is important while such a motion is considered.” We look forward to continuing our litigation and establishing the full truth.”
Carroll’s lawyers opposed the former president’s request to delay sentencing or reduce bail, expressing concern that Trump would not actually pay.
“He simply asks the court to ‘trust me’ and offers the court filings that amount to a paper napkin in a case that resulted in an $83.3 million judgment against him. Signed by the least trustworthy borrower ” they wrote to the judge.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers pushed back, pointing out that Mr. Carroll’s team emphasized to jurors claims about the size of Mr. Trump’s wealth and a strategy aimed at increasing the amount of damages awarded.
Trump’s lawyers, Alina Haba and John Sauer, wrote that Carroll’s lawyers took a “nimble and flexible approach to the facts.”
Mr. Sauer was added as an attorney in the case after the trial. Mr. Sauer is also representing Mr. Trump in his defense of presidential immunity to federal election destruction charges and in his appeal of the gag order imposed in that case.
Updated at 6:13 p.m.
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