March 7 (UPI) — A federal judge on Thursday denied former President Donald Trump‘s request to delay an $83.3 million judgment in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against him, leaving him just three days to pay or post bond.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in his ruling Thursday that Trump’s “current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions.”
“He has had since January 26 to organize his finances with the knowledge that he might need to bond this judgment, yet he waited until 25 days after the jury verdict … to file his prior motion for an unsecured or partially secured stay pending resolution of post-trial motions.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called Kaplan’s ruling “a continuation of a totally lawless witch hunt” and argued, “President Trump filed a timely motion to stay the ridiculous judgment.”
A jury in January awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages after determining Trump defamed her while denying her claim that he sexually assaulted her in 1990s.
Trump previously had filed motions seeking a new trial in the case or to get the damages reduced. He asked Kaplan to delay judgment until 30 days after he rules on those motions or reduces the bond amount to $24.5 million.
Trump’s lawyers had argued the $83.3 million decision would cause him “irreparable injury in the form of substantial costs.”
Under standard practice, Trump’s bond amount would total $91.63 million as he appeals the verdict, his attorney’s said.
Kaplan rejected the claim in his ruling, arguing, “the expense of ongoing litigation in the absence of a stay does not constitute ‘irreparable injury’ in the relevant sense of that term.”
Carrol’s lawyers opposed Trump’s request, arguing he failed to offer financial information that would justify a delay.
“The reasoning Trump offers in seeking this extraordinary relief boils down to nothing more than ‘trust me,'” her lawyers wrote. “He doesn’t offer any information about his finances or the nature and location of his assets. He doesn’t specify what percentage of his assets are liquid or explain how Carroll might go about collecting.”
Trump’s lawyers pushed back, arguing Carrol’s attorney’s used a “fast-and-loose approach to the facts” about the size of Trump’s wealth to increase the total damages.
Trump also faces another deadline later this month to pay a $454 million judgment for issuing fraudulent financial statements, including inflating the values of his assets, between 2011 and 2021.
His attorneys also argued for a delay in that judgment and to pay a $100 million bond, arguing Trump otherwise might have to sell some of his assets to cover the bond.
