Bloomberg News reports:
A former New York advice columnist who says Donald Trump defamed her when he denied raping her two decades ago urged a federal appeals court to reject the former president’s claim that he’s protected from her lawsuit because he was a government employee when it was filed.
E. Jean Carroll asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan to affirm a trial judge’s finding that the suit isn’t blocked by a federal law that protects government workers from lawsuits related to their jobs. The U.S. Justice Department under Trump backed his argument before he lost re-election, and the Biden administration hasn’t weighed in.
USA Today reports:
During Trump’s presidency, the Justice Department sought to make the United States, not him personally, the defendant in Carroll’s lawsuit – a move that would put U.S. taxpayers on the hook if the former advice columnist got a payout in the case.
The Justice Department has argued that the statements he made about Carroll, including that she was “totally lying” to sell a memoir and that “she’s not my type,” fell within the scope of his job as president.
The federal lawyers said he had to respond to her claims because they essentially questioned his fitness to hold public office.
Attorneys For E. Jean Carroll Tell Federal Appeals Court That Letting DOJ Represent Trump Would Be “Both Wrong and Dangerous”https://t.co/NBjDSQBDLT
— Law & Crime (@lawcrimenews) April 17, 2021
A notable brief just landed from @ejeancarroll and her lawyers. They want an appeals court to reject Trump’s claim that he was acting within his official duties when he called her liar.
“A White House job is not a promise of unilateral authority to brutalize victims,” they say. pic.twitter.com/OgCJE4ROtS
— Jan Wolfe (@JanNWolfe) April 17, 2021