NEW: Clinton Judge Denies Trump Lawyers’ Request To Delay Trial In E. Jean Carroll Case

Former President Donald Trump’s request for a trial delay in the defamation and battery case brought by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll was denied by a federal judge in New York on Monday.

In light of the intense media coverage of his indictment in Manhattan last month, Trump argued that a “cooling off” period was necessary. As a result, he sought a one-month delay of the trial, which was originally scheduled to begin on April 25. However, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled “There is no justification for an adjournment. This case is entirely unrelated to the state prosecution.”

“Developments in at least one of these matters, as well as actions and statements by Mr. Trump in relation to any, may well give rise to intense publicity that, in some respects, Mr. Trump might claim to be prejudicial in this case,” Kaplan said. “Mr. Trump’s suggestion that a one-month trial postponement in this case would ensure the absence of any such developments in the period immediately preceding jury selection is not realistic.”

Judge Lewis Kaplan was nominated by President Bill Clinton on May 5, 1994, to serve as a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Last week, Forbes reported on the billionaire LinkedIn founder’s role and Democratic mega-donor Reid Hoffman had been funding Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.

Carroll is an American journalist, advice columnist, and author who has accused former President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Carroll made the accusation in her 2019 book, “What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal,” in which she details the alleged encounter.

Trump has denied the allegations and called them “totally false” and a “hoax.” He also argued that Carroll was not his type and that he had never met her. In response, Carroll sued Trump for defamation, arguing that his denials had damaged her reputation and career.