Trump requests delay in E. Jean Carroll civil trial to consider other legal options

Former President Trump has requested a delay of trial proceedings in a defamation lawsuit against him by writer E. Jean Carroll.

The former president asked for a 90-day delay in the case in a motion Thursday, according to court records obtained by CNN. Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that Trump cannot assert immunity in the case. 

Trump’s legal team argued in a Thursday motion that the delay is necessary to allow the former president to consider appellate options, including an appeal to the Supreme Court if necessary.

“The requested stays are necessary and appropriate to give President Trump an opportunity to fully litigate his entitlement to present an immunity defense in the underlying proceedings, including pursuing the appeal in the Supreme Court if necessary,” Trump’s legal team wrote. “The denial of this right would upend the longstanding rule that lower courts are divested of jurisdiction for the pendency of an immunity-related appeal.”

Not granting Trump this time would be a “form of prejudice,” the former president’s team argued.

“Forcing President Trump to stand trial absent a final determination as to whether his presidential immunity defense is viable would be the ‘quintessential form of prejudice’ and would deprive the immunity of its intended effect,” the motion states.

“A stay of district court proceedings is mandated under the longstanding rule that a lower court is divested of jurisdiction throughout the pendency of an immunity-related appeal,” Trump’s team also argued in the court documents.