Donald Trump has lost again at the federal appeals court operating in New York City with a rejection of his request for another go at claims of immunity amid court proceedings moving forward elsewhere on claims from writer E. Jean Carroll.
Carroll already went to trial once against Trump on claims of sexual misconduct and defamation, but she’ll soon face down the Trump team once again on the question of the level of financial penalty for additional allegations of defamation.
The presiding judge concluded the substance of the defamation claims was similar to the point the second trial could move to handling the question of additional penalties. (Trump was already penalized $5 million, besides being held liable in the first place.) Trump had specifically been asking to have his claims of immunity allowing him to put a stop to these latest proceedings heard by the full appeals court instead of a three-judge panel, which previously rejected his ambitions. The court declined.
There was no substantial explanation of the court’s decision. Instead, the court document announcing the development simply states that Trump’s request fell short, leaving the second trial on track to begin soon. Former presidents do have some established legal protections in specifically a civil context by virtue of their time in office, but the three-judge panel who previously heard Trump’s claims at this judicial level concluded the former president had failed to raise such claims in a necessary, timely manner.
“This case presents a vexing question of first impression: whether presidential immunity is waivable. We answer in the affirmative and further hold that Donald J. Trump (‘Defendant’) waived the defense of presidential immunity by failing to raise it as an affirmative defense in his answer to E. Jean Carroll’s (‘Plaintiff’s’) complaint,” the judges said, as highlighted by CNN. Trump’s team will be attempting to claim presidential immunity in a criminal context before a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday amid criminal proceedings originating with Special Counsel Jack Smith at the federal Justice Department.
JUST IN: The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in NY has *denied* Donald Trump’s request to reconsider his immunity from E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit.
SCOTUS is the next stop. pic.twitter.com/o0OmErAstY
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 8, 2024
