Writer's defamation trial against Trump set for January 2024

A federal judge on Thursday scheduled the writer E Jean Carroll's second defamation trial against former US president Donald Trump for next January.

US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said the civil trial, where the former Elle magazine columnist is seeking at least US$10 million (about RM46.2 million) in damages, will began on Jan 15, 2024, "unless this case has previously been entirely disposed of."

The timetable raises the prospect that Trump might have to defend himself in three trials early next year as he seeks the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, where he is now the front-runner.

Trump has been criminally charged by federal prosecutors in Florida with mishandling classified documents, and by Manhattan's district attorney with covering up hush money payments to a porn star. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge, said her client looks forward to moving expeditiously on her claims.

A lawyer for Trump and a spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Carroll claims that Trump defamed her in June 2019 when he denied having raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan, and said she was not his "type."

Last month, a Manhattan jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll US$5 million for defamation and sexual assault in a separate lawsuit, after he made a similar denial in October 2022.

On Tuesday, judge Kaplan allowed Carroll to amend her lawsuit over Trump's 2019 comments to include similar comments he made recently on CNN.

In a town hall the day after the US$5 million verdict, Trump called Carroll's account "fake" and labeled her a "whack job."

The case is Carroll v Trump, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-07311.