Donald Trump lied to the judge overseeing his defamation case against writer E. Jean Carroll about his reason for needing to push the trial back a week, according to Carroll’s attorney.
The former president had told Judge Lewis Kaplan he needed the postponement to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law, who died recently. His lawyer, Alina Habba, argued in a last-minute letter to the judge Friday that Trump needed to spend next Wednesday and Thursday with his family in Florida.
But in a letter addressed to Judge Kaplan on Saturday, Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan (no relation) said “a campaign event featuring Mr. Trump has been scheduled” in New Hampshire on Wednesday, one of the days he claimed to need to be with family. The letter also noted that “there was no mention made of any scheduling conflict in connection with Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign” in his postponement request to the judge.
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Judge Kaplan ultimately rejected the request late Friday, saying the court “offers its condolences” but denies the bid for an adjournment.
Trump fumed about the decision on Truth Social on Saturday—and repeated the claim that he needed the postponement to pay tribute to his “beloved” mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs.
“Crazed, Trump hating Judge, Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the Election Interference Witch Hunt, disguised as a trial, of a woman I have never met before (celebrity photo line does not count - I had no idea who she was!), was asked if he could delay this Rigged Political Scam for one day so that I could attend the FUNERAL OF MY BELOVED MOTHER-IN-LAW WITH MY WIFE, THE FORMER (AND NEXT!) FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES — AND HE SAID NO,” Trump wrote.
“He is a bad person and an even worse Judge,” he said.
Trump’s official campaign website lists an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Jan. 17, with a promotion for the event promising he will “deliver remarks.” His scheduled appearance in New Hampshire is six days before the state’s primary, a race in which he is the Republican frontrunner. His 2024 campaign season has been occupied with court appearances for multiple cases, including an election interference case in Georgia and a civil fraud trial in New York. He has repeatedly referred to the trials as witch hunts, complained they amounted to “election interference,” and verbally attacked judges, district attorneys, and clerks alike.
While the Carroll defamation suit is set to hear opening arguments next week, it’s already embroiled in Trump’s trademark antics. After Trump threw a courtroom tantrum during the closing arguments of the New York civil fraud trial, Carroll sought to limit Trump’s statements in her suit to that which is relevant to the case. In a separate letter to the judge, her lawyer worried that Trump intended to turn the trial into a media circus. “It takes little imagination to think that Mr. Trump is gearing up for a similar performance here—only this time, in front of a jury,” the attorney wrote.
