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The federal judge who presided over writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against former President Donald Trump refused on Thursday to delay his payment of the $83 million award she was awarded, dealing a significant blow to him.
The former president, who is widely expected to secure the GOP nomination, has launched initiatives to delay the rulings in both Carroll’s lawsuit and the New York attorney general’s extensive fraud prosecution. Trump faces the prospect of significant financial penalties totaling hundreds of millions of dollars across these two civil cases, The Hill reported.
Thursday’s ruling deals a blow to Trump by upholding default rules that could facilitate the enforcement of the judgment in Carroll’s lawsuit as soon as next week. It effectively sets a deadline for Trump to post a bond, the outlet noted further.
“Mr. Trump’s current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in the ruling.
The Hill added:
A federal jury sitting in New York ordered Trump to pay the eight-figure sum for defaming Carroll by denying her story when she came forward in 2019 to accuse the then-president of sexual assault decades earlier. Last year, a separate jury had found Trump liable for sexually abusing the advice columnist.
Under standard practice, Trump’s lawyers have said Trump’s bond amount would total $91.63 million as he appeals the January verdict.
In recent days, Trump has filed motions requesting a new trial in the case or seeking a reduction in damages, the outlet continued. Trump urged Kaplan, who was appointed to the bench by former President Clinton, to postpone the judgment until 30 days after ruling on those motions. Alternatively, Trump proposed reducing the bond amount to $24.475 million.
Kaplan has yet to issue a ruling on Trump’s request for a delay. However, on Thursday, the judge rejected Trump’s latest plea for an administrative stay to postpone Saturday’s deadline.
“This is a continuation of a totally lawless witch hunt,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “President Trump filed a timely motion to stay the ridiculous judgment, and many courts, including the Second Circuit, recognize the importance of temporary administrative stays while such motions are considered. We look forward to continuing to litigate the case and to complete vindication of the truth.”
Carroll’s lawyers objected to the former president’s request to delay the judgment or decrease his bond amount, citing concerns that Trump might not fulfill his payment obligations, The Hill said.
“He simply asks the Court to ‘trust me’ and offers, in a case with an $83.3 million judgment against him, the court filing equivalent of a paper napkin; signed by the least trustworthy of borrowers,” they wrote in a filing with the judge.
CNN reported on Friday that Trump posted the massive bond.
Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers in the case, advised Carroll not to go on a spending spree just yet because she believes her client will prevail on appeal.
During an interview on Newsmax TV with host Eric Bolling last month, Habba attacked Carroll for offering to purchase MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow a penthouse apartment and new clothes.
“It was like being in an epic Twilight Zone where no rules were allowed but for the other side, and then she goes out there and gloats and says she’s gonna buy France, and a wardrobe, and a motorcycle, and this and that. I want everyone to remember, and I said this in my closing argument to the jury, she’s here to get a check and after this she will continue. She didn’t care, you know, about the defamation. She didn’t. She cared about the publicity,” Habba said.
“On appeal, those rulings will come up, the one-sidedness will come up, and we will prevail,” predicted Habba, before concluding, “My advice to her would be not to go ahead and purchase any motorcycles or penthouse apartments.”
