Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Donald Trump’s motion for a stay pending his appeal of the decision in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, where Trump claimed “absolute immunity” from all legal issues because he at one point occupied the Oval Office. Kaplan repeatedly noted that Trump’s defense in the case has already been rejected, but Trump and his attorneys continue to lob the same faulty arguments:
Indeed, many of Mr. Trump’s points in his current motion repeat almost verbatim those offered in his prior briefing in support of his assertion that presidential immunity is a non-waivable issue of subject matter jurisdiction. But he does not address any of this Court’s reasoning in rejecting his argument. Nor does he engage in any meaningful way with this Court’s conclusion that permitting him amend to raise his purported presidential immunity defense at this late date in any event would be futile because the defense is legally insufficient. His only other argument – that the Second Circuit has jurisdiction immediately to review the Court’s decision that he waived his presidential immunity defense – is irrelevant to the question of whether he has any significant likelihood of success on appeal.
In sum, Mr. Trump has not provided a single reason for the Court to find that there is any likelihood that he will succeed on appeal, let alone a “strong showing.” Accordingly, this factor weighs against Mr. Trump.