Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll (L), Former President Donald Trump (R).
Eva Deitch/Getty Images (L), Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images (R).
E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer accused Donald Trump of stalling for time on the defamation case.
Roberta A. Kaplan said Trump is trying to avoid his deposition on Oct. 19.
Kaplan also criticized Trump’s refusal to hand over certain documents during discovery.
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.
Carroll filed a defamation suit against Trump in 2019 after he denied claims in her 2019 book that he raped her in a dressing room in the 1990s. During his presidency, Trump publicly scoffed at the claim and said “she’s not my type.”
Trump’s lawyers argue because the comments were made while he was president, the US Government should replace him as a defendant. If his argument is successful, Carroll’s suit can not move forward as there is no legal path to sue the US government for defamation.
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled Tuesday that a DC court will now decide whether or not Trump stays on as a defendant.
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.
“Defendant produced just eight documents and four incomplete interrogatory responses; he otherwise stonewalled every document request and interrogatory, refused to turn over basic information about witnesses… and violated every deadline that applied to his discovery responses without any credible excuse for his failure,” Kaplan wrote
“It could hardly be clearer that defendant hopes to ‘run out the clock’ until he is elected president again,” Kaplan continued.
Earlier this year, a New York judge similarly criticized Trump’s “frivolous” delay tactics after he tried to countersue Carroll on the basis of free speech under New York law. The countersuit was dismissed.
On Sept. 20, Kaplan announced Carroll would file a new suit against Trump for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress after New York’s Adult Survivors Act goes into effect on Nov. 24. The law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on May 24, gives adult sexual assault survivors a year to file civil cases from when it takes effect.
Lawyers for Trump and Carroll did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.