Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Wednesday rejected former President Donald Trump's attempt to delay answering questions under oath next week in a defamation lawsuit brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York denied Trump's request to substitute the U.S. government into the case as a defendant, on the grounds that the alleged defamation occurred when he was president.
That request is a "second bite at the apple," Kaplan said.
Wednesday's ruling clears the way for Trump to be deposed Oct. 19.
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Carroll detailed her allegations against Trump in an excerpt from her book, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal, published in June 2019 in New York magazine.
She said then-real estate tycoon Trump approached her in 1995 or 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. Recognizing each other, she said he asked her for help buying a gift for a woman. Trump was married to Marla Maples at the time.
Carroll said Trump followed her to a fitting room at the store, shoved her against a wall, pulled down her tights and, "forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway -- or completely, I'm not certain -- inside me."
Carroll said she told two friends about the alleged attack at the time, but didn't contact police out of fear of death threats, and retribution from Trump. She said one friend warned her that Trump "has 200 lawyers."
Trump denied the allegations and a White House statement issued at the same said, "This is a completely false and unrealistic story surfacing 25 years after allegedly taking place and was created simply to make the president look bad."
Trump also accused Carroll of making up the story to help sell her book.
Carroll sued Trump in 2019, saying his denials of her accusations damaged her reputation and inflicted emotional pain and suffering.
