一名联邦法官纽约周三第二次被拒绝前总统唐纳德·特朗普他试图让美国政府代替他成为被告在诽谤诉讼中由前Elle专栏作家E. Jean Carroll撰写,并拒绝阻止特朗普定于下周发表的证词。
刘易斯·卡普兰法官说,“完成这些已经拖延多年的证词不会给特朗普先生带来不必要的负担。”"在原告试图为所谓的严重错误获得补救时,不应允许被告超时工作。"
特朗普定于10月19日出庭作证。
卡罗尔的律师罗伯塔·卡普兰说:“我们很高兴卡普兰法官同意我们的立场,在这个案件中不停止证据开示。”。
特朗普曾要求暂停此案,让另一家法院解决一个最终可能让它不了了之的问题。
Donald Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll arrives for her hearing at federal court during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, Oct. 21, 2020.
卡洛·阿莱格里/路透社,档案
法宝声称上个月做出了决定根据美国第二巡回上诉法院的判决,他是联邦政府的雇员,这意味着美国可以代替他成为被告。政府不能因诽谤而被起诉。
卡普兰说,特朗普的观点是不成熟的,因为上诉法院没有解决特朗普否认卡罗尔的强奸指控时是否在他的雇佣范围内行事的问题,并且据称,通过贬低她的外表来诽谤她。
第二巡回法院要求特区上诉法院介入,该法院的法律规定了政府雇员的行为范围。
“这个问题最终将如何解决仍不得而知。与此同时,替换还为时过早,”卡普兰说。
特朗普的律师阿林娜·哈巴(Alina Habba)在一份声明中说,“我们期待记录在案,这起案件现在是,而且一直是,完全没有法律依据。”
Donald Trump must sit for deposition in defamation suit filed by E. Jean Carroll, judge says
A federal judge inNew Yorkrejected for a second time on Wednesday former PresidentDonald Trump's attempt to have the United States government be substituted for him as a defendantin a defamation lawsuitby former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll and refused to stop a deposition by Trump scheduled for next week.
"Completing those depositions -- which already have been delayed for years -- would impose no undue burden on Mr. Trump," Judge Lewis Kaplan said. "The defendant should not be permitted to run the clock out on plaintiff's attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong."
Trump is scheduled to sit for a deposition Oct. 19.
"We are pleased that Judge Kaplan agreed with our position not to stay discovery in this case," Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said.
Trump had asked to put the case on pause while a different court resolves a matter that could ultimately make it go away.
Trumpclaimed a decision last monthby the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that he was an employee of the federal government meant the United States could substitute for him as the defendant. The government cannot be sued for defamation.
Kaplan said Trump's view was premature since the appellate court left open the question of whether Trump was acting within the scope of his employment when he denied Carroll's rape claim and, allegedly, defamed her by degrading her appearance.
The 2nd Circuit asked the D.C. Court of Appeals, whose law governs the scope of conduct by government employees, to weigh in.
"How the question ultimately will be resolved remains unknown. In the meantime, substitution would be premature," Kaplan said.
An attorney for Trump, Alina Habba, said in a statement, "We look forward to establishing on the record that this case is, and always has been, entirely without merit."