President Trump has requested a delay of trial proceedings in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by E. Jean Carroll so he can consider appeal options.
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday for a 90-day delay of trial proceedings in a defamation lawsuit against him by columnist E. Jean Carroll.
The legal move, aimed at safeguarding his presidential immunity defense, comes after the same Manhattan court rejected this defense on Dec. 14, sending the case back to the lower court to go ahead with a trial set for next month.
In Thursday’s filing, President Trump’s legal team argued that the requested stay of the trial is essential to allow the former president sufficient time to consider his options for further appeal, including the possibility of taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The requested stays are necessary and appropriate to give President Trump an opportunity to fully litigate his entitlement to present an immunity defense in the underlying proceedings, including pursuing the appeal in the Supreme Court if necessary,” the lawyers, Michael Madaio and Alina Habba, wrote in the filing.
The filing argues that forcing President Trump to stand trial in the absence of a final determination “as to whether his presidential immunity defense is viable” would be a violation of established legal norms.
This “would be the ‘quintessential form of prejudice’ and would deprive the immunity of its intended effect,” the lawyers argued.
They also argued that lower courts typically lack jurisdiction “throughout the pendency of an immunity-related appeal.”
They also contend that failing to stay the proceedings would violate President Trump’s constitutional rights, with respect to its chances of getting in the way of his 2024 campaign.
“For example, given the ongoing harm arising from foreclosing President Trump’s access to this important defense, these motions implicate the First Amendment rights of President Trump and the hundreds of millions of Americans who wish to hear his campaign advocacy—as the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election—unencumbered by the need to prepare for and attend a January 2024 trial in the district court, in which he is wrongly being denied access to a crucial and meritorious defense,” the lawyers wrote.
