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In a moment that felt like a heavyweight boxing match, Manhattan's U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, on Friday, declined to play into what he perceived as a diversionary tactic. He denied a motion to halt Trump's appeal in jean carroll case , even as Trump pushes for presidential immunity at the Second Circuit.

Trump's Appeal in Jean Carroll Case : Carroll’s Victory and Trump’s Defenses

Carroll's determination and Trump's resilience, akin to a relentless tug of war, have marked their legal battle.

Earlier, in May, she managed to extract a $5 million victory when a jury concluded that Trump had assaulted her in the 1990s, later labeling her accusations as a "hoax" in 2022.

The stage is now set for a January 2024 showdown where Carroll will press additional defamation charges against Trump based on denials he made while holding the highest office in 2019.

Emphasizing that timing is everything, Judge Kaplan had already determined in June that Trump cannot hide behind absolute presidential immunity since his comments had no connection with his official role.

The eleventh-hour introduction of this defense, according to Kaplan, essentially voided its relevance.

 Delaying Tactics: A Repeat Strategy?

Trump, hoping to freeze the action like a scene in a suspense movie, made an appeal against Kaplan's ruling and wished to put litigation on hold until the Second Circuit had its say.

But Judge Kaplan, with the assertiveness of a chess grandmaster making a decisive move, rebuffed this appeal last Friday.

Kaplan's reasoning was hard-hitting; he accused Trump of a history of submitting groundless delays throughout this near four-year-old saga.

In a line that echoed like a courtroom gavel, Kaplan stated, "Mr. Trump's latest motion to stay – his fourth such request – is yet another such attempt to delay unduly the resolution of this matter."

Trump's recent appeal, in Kaplan's view, lacked substance. The judge asserted that Trump failed to give "a single reason" for the Second Circuit to believe he possessed presidential immunity against Carroll's accusations.

 The Counterclaim and Other Legal Woes

While Trump's legal quiver seems full, his arrows aren't hitting the mark.

Beyond the Carroll matter, he seeks to overturn the $5 million jury verdict and has petitioned the Second Circuit to revive his own defamation counterclaim against Carroll, which was previously discarded by Judge Kaplan.

In a web of legal intricacies, Trump also finds himself on the defensive end in four distinct jurisdictions: New York, Georgia, Florida, and Washington, D.C. Each time, he has vociferously denied any wrongdoing.

Trump's Appeal in Jean Carroll Case : Legal Representatives

E. Jean Carroll stands with a formidable legal team from Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, including Roberta A. Kaplan, Michael Ferrara, Shawn G. Crowley, Trevor W. Morrison, Matthew J. Craig, and Joshua Matz. Trump, on the other side of the battlefield, is championed by Alina Habba and Michael T. Madaio of Habba Madaio & Associates LLP.