Donald Trump is 'desperate to avoid justice,' E.Jean Carroll's lawyer tells judge as president tries to stall libel case over her rape claim

The latest legal maneuvers by President Donald Trump are further proof he's 'desperate to avoid justice' in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says he raped her in the 1990s, one of her lawyers told a federal judge Friday.

Trump's lawyers 'have used every stall tactic in the book,' Joshua Matz, an attorney for columnist E. Jean Carroll, said during a teleconferece.

Matz argued that the most recent tactic was a meritless request to stop the clock on the case while they appeal U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan's refusal to let the United States replace Trump as the defendant.

Kaplan did not rule on the request for a stay pending a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. 

He instead ordered Carroll's attorneys to respond in writing while pressuring lawyers for the president to file a brief with the appeals court to keep the case moving.

'It would be in your interest for that to happen soon - very soon,' the judge said.

A private lawyer arguing for Trump, Paul Burgo, made no mention of the presidential election result. Justice Department attorneys assigned to the case were not on the call.

Carroll has said Trump raped her in a luxury department store dressing room a quarter century ago after they randomly crossed paths and engaged in conversation as each recognized the other´s measure of fame.

Trump said in June that Carroll was 'totally lying' to sell a memoir and that he'd never met her, though a 1987 photo showed them and their then-spouses at a social event. He said the photo captured a moment when he was standing in a line.

The Justice Department is appealing a judge's refusal to let the US replace President Donald Trump as the defendant in a defamation lawsuit brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll

Kaplan concluded last month in a written decision that Trump's statements did not constitute an official act of the presidency and were outside the scope of his employment as president. 

Substituting the United States for Trump would leave taxpayers responsible for any payout in the case.

Justice Department attorneys say Trump had to respond to Carroll's accusations because they related to his fitness for office.   

Kaplan concluded in a written decision that Trump's June 19 statements about columnist E. Jean Carroll didn't constitute an official act of the presidency and were outside the scope of his employment as president.

Substituting the United States for Trump would leave taxpayers responsible for any payout in the case.

Carroll, a former longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, said in her lawsuit that in the fall of 1995 or spring of 1996 she and Trump met in a chance encounter when they recognized each other at the Bergdorf Goodman store. 

She said they engaged in a lighthearted chat about trying on a see-through lilac gray bodysuit when they made their way to a dressing room, where she said Trump pushed her against a wall and raped her.

Trump claimed that he had never met Carroll, but the advice columnist and author submitted photographic evidence that they had in the lawsuit. The photo above shows Trump and first wife Ivana (left and right) with Carroll and her then-husband John Johnson

Trump said Carroll was 'totally lying' to sell a memoir and that he'd never met her, though a 1987 photo showed them and their then-spouses at a social event. He said the photo captured a moment when he was standing in a line.

'She is trying to sell a new book - that should indicate her motivation,' he said in one of various statements on the matter, adding that the book 'should be sold in the fiction section'. 

Carroll, who wants unspecified damages and a retraction of Trump's statements, also seeks a DNA sample from Trump to see whether it matches as-yet-unidentified male genetic material found on a dress that she says she was wearing during the alleged attack.

Carroll detailed her allegations against Trump in New York magazine, appearing on the cover in the very same coat dress that she claims she was wearing on the day Trump allegedly assaulted her 

She wrote in the memoir, which had an excerpt featured in New York Magazine, that she remained silent during the 2016 presidential campaign in part because her mother, a respected Republican official in Indiana, was dying at the time and she didn't want to add to her pain.

She said the emergence of the #MeToo movement in late 2017 prompted her to go public with her own story as she advised other women in her advice column to be brave and to seek justice when they asked her how to respond to sexual assault and abuse.

Carroll's suit seeks damages and a retraction of Trump's statements, saying they hurt her career and reputation.

Trump's legal team has repeatedly tried - and failed - to have the suit dismissed. 

Carroll's lawyers said the DOJ move was part of a pattern of maneuvers designed to delay progression of the case, including Carroll's effort to get a DNA sample from Trump to see if it matches male genetic material on a dress she says she wore the day of the alleged attack. 

A lab report taken on the black wool coat-styled dress found DNA on the sleeves mixed with at least four people, including one man.