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Evan Vucci / AP
President Donald Trump and his lawyers have been accused of using stalemate tactics in an attempt to avoid justice in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says Trump raped her in the 1990s.
President Donald Trump’s latest legal maneuvers are further proof that he is “desperate to avoid justice” in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says he raped her in the 1990s, one of his lawyers told a judge federal on Friday.
Trump’s attorneys “have used all the stalling tactics in the book,” Joshua Matz, attorney for columnist E. Jean Carroll, said during a conference call.
Matz argued that the most recent tactic was an unsubstantiated request to stop the clock in the case while appealing Federal District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan’s refusal to allow the United States to replace Trump as a defendant.
Kaplan did not rule on the suspension request pending a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan. Instead, he ordered Carroll’s attorneys to respond in writing while pressuring the attorneys for the president to file a brief with the appeals court to keep the case moving.
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“It would be in your interest if that happens soon, very soon,” the judge said.
A private attorney defending Trump, Paul Burgo, did not mention the outcome of the presidential election. Justice Department attorneys assigned to the case were not on the call.
Seth Wenig / AP
E. Jean Carroll has said that Donald Trump raped her in the dressing room of a luxury department store a quarter of a century ago, a claim that Trump has refuted.
Carroll has said Trump raped her in the dressing room of a luxury department store a quarter of a century ago after they randomly crossed paths and struck up a conversation as each acknowledged the other’s measure of fame.
Trump said in June that Carroll was “totally lying” to sell his memoirs and that he had never met her, although a 1987 photo showed them and their then spouses at a social event. He said the photo captured a moment when he was standing in a row.
Kaplan concluded in a written decision last month that Trump’s remarks did not constitute an official act of the presidency and were outside the scope of his employment as president. Replacing Trump with the United States would leave taxpayers responsible for any payment in the case.
Lawyers for the Justice Department say Trump had to answer Carroll’s allegations because they related to his fitness for the job.
The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.
