The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump spent Jan. 24, 2024, with one eye on politics and the other on a federal case that would not move that day. The E. Jean Carroll damages trial had already been pushed back after a juror fell ill and COVID-19 concerns surfaced, and the court had said proceedings would not be held Wednesday, Jan. 24, before resuming Thursday, Jan. 25. ([law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1%3A2020cv07311/543790/266/))

The sequence matters. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had denied Trump’s request to postpone the start of the trial earlier in January, writing that the trial date had been set months before and that a jury panel had already been summoned. Then, on Jan. 22, the trial was delayed because of the sick juror and the health concerns tied to the courtroom. By Jan. 23, the court had mapped out the pause: no trial on Jan. 24, with testimony set to pick back up on Jan. 25. ([law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1%3A2020cv07311/543790/266/))

Trump’s New Hampshire primary win came on Jan. 23, not Jan. 24, which put the courtroom delay in the middle of the same news stretch as a campaign milestone. The overlap did not change the case itself, but it kept Trump’s legal problems in the same frame as his political momentum. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/trump-carroll-defamation-lawsuit-trial-1e5420d5b28c857220429275ab901a34))

The Carroll case was already a fixture on the January calendar. Kaplan’s Jan. 14 order makes clear that the court expected the trial to proceed despite Trump’s last-minute postponement request, and that any disruption would have ripples for jurors, lawyers, court staff and security. The brief delay in late January did not alter the substance of the lawsuit. It only paused the schedule long enough to keep the case hovering over the campaign another day. ([law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1%3A2020cv07311/543790/266/))