Judge rejects Trump team's bid to delay E. Jean Carroll trial

A New York judge on Friday rejected a bid from former President Donald Trump's legal team to delay a civil trial in writer E. Jean Carroll's second defamation suit against him.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan called the request "frivolous" and suggested Trump was not likely to succeed on appeal in his effort to push back the January suit, The Hill reported.

"He has not engaged with this Court’s analysis of either question and thus shown no likelihood of success on appeal. Accordingly, this Court certifies that Mr. Trump’s appeal is frivolous and therefore has not divested this Court of jurisdiction," he wrote.

The trial is currently scheduled for Jan. 15.

Carroll previously scored a win in a separate defamation case against Trump. That case saw her sue him over comments he made after leaving office in which he denied her claims to have raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room sometime in the 1990s. The jury sided with Carroll and awarded her damages, but specifically determined that Trump's conduct did not amount to rape.

Her current suit pertains to comments Trump made in 2019, while in office, which had been on hold amid questions as to whether Trump enjoyed presidential immunity. 

Kaplan previously rejected the immunity argument in June and refused Trump's request to dismiss the suit.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.