Judge finds Donald Trump's appeal in E. Jean Carroll case 'frivolous'
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. judge on Friday ruled that former President Donald Trump had filed a «frivolous» appeal of his decision not to dismiss the first of writer E. Jean Carroll's two defamation lawsuits stemming from her claim that he raped her.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan also denied Trump's bid to put Carroll's case on hold while he appeals the June 29 decision, which found that Trump did not deserve absolute presidential immunity for calling her a liar.
«Mr. Trump has not provided a single reason for the court to find that there is any likelihood that he will succeed on appeal,» Kaplan wrote. «This court certifies that the appeal itself is frivolous.»
Under federal rules governing court procedure, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan could order Trump to pay damages and costs to Carroll if it found his appeal frivolous.
Trump's lawyer Alina Habba said in an email that she disagreed with but «fully anticipated» Kaplan's decision, and will «promptly move before the Second Circuit for a stay to preserve our client's entitlement to presidential immunity.»
Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge, declined to comment.
The case is among a slew of legal problems that Trump, 77, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, faces as he seeks another White House term.
These include four separate criminal indictments, including two for attempting to reverse his 2020 election loss.
NO IRREPARABLE HARM
Carroll, 79, sued Trump in November 2019 over his denial five months earlier that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.
The case is separate from the May 9 verdict where a
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