Donald Trump wanted to pause his defamation case with E. Jean Carroll while he fights his claim of "absolute immunity" at the appeals court and U.S. Supreme Court, but he lost the effort in court Thursday.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request by Trump to put everything on hold while the immunity claim goes through the court, as was done in his Washington, D.C. election subversion case, posted legal analyst Allison Gill.
A previous judge cited Trump's advanced age as the reason he didn't want to delay the trial.
Carroll has already won a defamation case against Trump. A jury agreed in May that Trump had sexually abused Carroll, and then defamed her when he denied it. She was awarded damages of $5 million.
A judge ruled in September that Trump was liable for a separate defamation in the outstanding case, but it was scheduled to go to civil trial early next year to decide damages.
"Appellant moves to stay the issuance of the mandate and to stay district court proceedings during the pendency of remaining appellate proceedings. Appellee moves the Court to issue the mandate on Jan. 5, 2024, and/or enter an order confirming that the district court otherwise maintains jurisdiction to proceed with the case. It is hereby ordered that the motions are denied."
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Trump's immunity claim involves criminal prosecutions that he says he's immune from because they involved actions done while he was president.
It was previously ruled that Trump couldn't use the "presidential immunity" claim to protect himself against litigation in the E. Jean Carroll case, but he argued that all cases against him be put on hold while he fights the current appeal.
