A federal judge in New York on Monday denied former President Donald Trump’s request to delay to delay the start of his sexual assault and defamation trial for one month.
Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina had asked for a “cooling off” period following the former President’s unprecedented indictment by a Manhattan grand jury and arraignment on 34 felony counts of business fraud related to hush money paid to at least two women ahead of the 2016 Presidential election.
Judge Lewis Kaplan in the Southern District of New York on Monday called the suggestion that the coverage could preclude the selection of a fair jury “pure speculation.”
“There is no justification for an adjournment,” Kaplan ruled. “This case is entirely unrelated to the state prosecution.”
Writer E. Jean Carroll filed suit against Trump for battery under New York State’s Adult Suvivor’s Act on the same day it went into effect—Thanksgiving day.
Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine says Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
Carroll already has a pending lawsuit against Trump for defamation, saying his public denials and disparaging comments have damaged her reputation. She is seeking unspecified damages in her battery lawsuit, asserting that Trump caused her lasting psychological harm.
In March, Kaplan denied a request from Trump attorneys to exclude from the upcoming assault trial the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he brags that he as a celebrity can get away with sexually assaulting women.
Trump has denied Carroll’s assault allegations, saying she made them up to sell a book. In an October deposition for the upcoming trial, Trump was dismissive of Carroll’s claims, saying: “Physically she’s not my type.” He also misidentified a photograph of Carroll as his ex-wife, Marla Maples, in that same deposition.
Trump has further denied having an affair with Stormy Daniels, one of the women named in the felony hush money case, though former Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 shortly before the 2016 election. Cohen has said he was then paid back personally by Trump.
Kaplan has also rejected Trump’s bid to exclude testimony from two other women who claimed he sexually assaulted them, as well as evidence that Carroll suffered emotional harm.
