Trump seeks to delay deposition in E. Jean Carroll defamation suit

• Trump is scheduled to be deposed on Oct. 19.
• The New York Times has reported that if the U.S. government becomes defendant in the suit, it "cannot proceed, because the federal government cannot be sued for defamation."

The other side: Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said last week that "[Trump] should not be permitted to assert at the last minute that he is entitled to avoid a deposition because it remains on appeal."

• "It could hardly be clearer that defendant hopes to ‘run out the clock’ until he is elected president again," Kaplan wrote in a letter filed in court Friday.

Catch up quick: Trump has maintained that he did not rape Carroll, who then sued him for defamation in 2019 for labeling her a liar.

• Trump, who faced a number of sexual misconduct allegations during his 2016 campaign, lost his bid to countersue earlier this year.
• In addition to the defamation case, Carroll also plans to sue Trump for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress "on the earliest possible date," which is Nov. 24, Axios' Shawna Chen reports.