Trump Seeks To Delay Deposition In Defamation Suit

Axios reports:

Former President Donald Trump is seeking to delay proceedings, including his deposition, in the defamation lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, an author who has alleged he raped her in the mid-1990s, according to a letter from his attorney filed in federal court Monday.

Trump’s lawyer requested that the court either substitute the U.S. government as the defendant or, “at a minimum,” halt proceedings until an appeals court resolves the question of who the defendant should be since he was president when he labeled Carroll a liar following her public accusation.

Trump is scheduled to be deposed on Oct. 19. The New York Times has reported that if the U.S. government becomes defendant in the suit, it “cannot proceed, because the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.”

The Insider reports:



E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, accused former President Donald Trump of hindering the legal processes of his defamation case to avoid being deposed on Oct. 19, a letter filed Friday in New York federal court shows.

In the letter, which was reviewed by Insider, Kaplan said Trump should not be permitted to “assert at the last minute that he is entitled to avoid a deposition” and criticized him for refusing to turn over information during the discovery process.

“It could hardly be clearer that defendant hopes to ‘run out the clock’ until he is elected president again,” Kaplan continued.