Judge denies request to block E. Jean Carroll's defamation case against Trump for saying he couldn't have raped her because she wasn't his 'type'

  • Wednesday's decision allows proceedings and filings in Manhattan federal district court to move forward for the first time since last year  
  • Trump and the DOJ are still appealing a ruling against their request for the DOJ to serve as the sole defendant in the case 
  • Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a New York City dressing room in either 1995 or 1996
  • Trump denied the allegations claiming she was 'totally lying' to sell her new book, was 'not my type' and that he had 'never met' her

A federal judge denied former President Trump's request to pause a lawsuit that accuses him of defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of raping her, because he said that she is not his 'type.' 

Trump's lawyer Marc Kasowitz had asked Kaplan to stay the proceedings nine months ago. 

Meanwhile Trump and the Department of Justice, who is still defending him even after he left office, are still appealing an earlier ruling in the case where Judge Lewis Kaplan decided against the DOJ's effort to have the US government replace Trump as the defendant.  

Wednesday's decision allows proceedings and filings in Manhattan federal district court to move forward for the first time since last year, according to CNBC.

Carroll, a longtime New York advice columnist, alleged in a July 2019 article that Trump raped her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City in either 1995 or 1996.

Trump denied the allegations claiming she was 'totally lying' to sell her new book, was 'not my type' and that he had 'never met' her. 

Trump's comments prompted Carroll to sue him for defamation later that year.

Carroll wrote the 'Ask E. Jean' column for Elle Magazine for 25 years until her contract was terminated early in early 2020.

The fashion magazine maintained it wasn't because of her accusations against Trump, but Carroll wrote on Twitter in February 2020: 'Because Trump ridiculed my reputation, laughed at my looks, & dragged me through the mud, after 26 years, ELLE fired me. I don't blame Elle. It was the great honor of my life writing 'Ask E. Jean.' I blame @realdonaldtrump.' 

Trump has denied E. Jean Carroll's rape allegations claiming she was 'totally lying' to sell her new book, was 'not my type' and that he had 'never met' her

Trump has denied E. Jean Carroll's rape allegations claiming she was 'totally lying' to sell her new book, was 'not my type' and that he had 'never met' her

E. Jean Carroll, a longtime New York advice columnist, alleged in a July 2019 article that Trump raped her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City in either 1995 or 1996

E. Jean Carroll, a longtime New York advice columnist, alleged in a July 2019 article that Trump raped her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City in either 1995 or 1996

Carroll wrote the 'Ask E. Jean' column for Elle Magazine for 25 years until her contract was terminated early in early 2020

Carroll wrote the 'Ask E. Jean' column for Elle Magazine for 25 years until her contract was terminated early in early 2020

Biden's Justice Department continued the former president's defense saying he can't be held liable for his 'crude and disrespectful' comments because he was acting within his scope as president at the time. 

DOJ lawyers told the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that responding to allegations of misconduct falls within the official job role of a president.

Under this argument, the DOJ said, Trump was acting 'within the scope of employment' as president of the United States when he denied sexually assaulting Carroll more than two decades before he took office.

'Speaking to the public and the press on matters of public concern is undoubtedly part of an elected official's job,' they wrote.

This means the DOJ, as the federal government - as his employer at the time - should serve as defendant rather than Trump personally, the DOJ argued. 

If the defendant is shifted from Trump to the DOJ this would likely lead to the lawsuit being dismissed, as the government cannot be sued for defamation.

It would also push the financial burden of defending the former president onto the American taxpayer.

'The President of the United States is not an employee of the Government within the meaning of the relevant statutes,' Kaplan wrote in his decision on the DOJ's request last October. 

'Even if he were such an employee, President Trump's allegedly defamatory statements concerning Ms. Carroll would not have been within the scope of his employment,' the judge wrote.

Meanwhile, the appeal of Kaplan's decision against allowing the DOJ to serve as the sole defendant continues, with oral arguments scheduled for Nov. 29.