The DOJ’s action in the lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll could shut down the case.
The Justice Department is taking over the legal defense of President Donald Trump in a defamation suit brought by a New York writer who claims Trump raped her in a department store dressing room 25 years ago.
In moving the case from state to federal court Tuesday and relieving Trump’s privately paid attorneys, Justice Department lawyers said they’d concluded that Trump was acting within the scope of his official duties as president when he denied the claims from former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.
If the move is upheld in the courts, it could effectively shut down the suit.
Carroll’s lawyers immediately denounced the maneuver and said it was preposterous that Trump was engaged in official business when he disputed Carroll’s allegation, including by declaring of the journalist and former “Saturday Night Live“ writer: “She’s not my type.”
“Even in today’s world, that argument is shocking,” Carroll lawyer Roberta Kaplan said in a statement. “It offends me as a lawyer, and offends me even more as a citizen. Trump’s effort to wield the power of the U.S. government to evade responsibility for his private misconduct is without precedent, and shows even more starkly how far he is willing to go to prevent the truth from coming out.”
Kaplan also noted that the move came as Trump faced a deadline to appeal a ruling from a New York judge requiring him to provide a DNA sample and sit for a deposition about the episode. The move to federal court will likely scuttle that ruling.
The Justice Department’s legal filings provided little insight about why officials stepped in 10 months after the suit was filed, but a career attorney who oversees the defense of tort cases for the federal government suggested that new facts had come to light that led to the decision.
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The Justice Department is taking over the legal defense of President Trump in a defamation suit brought by a New York writer who claims Trump raped her in a department store dressing room 25 years agohttps://t.co/XIz6wcgVRW
— POLITICO (@politico) September 9, 2020
I would have voted for just about anyone – sure, including Bernie – to get rid of Barr. He's a far more formidable threat to the rule of law than Trump. Fortunately, I can vote for Biden and feel good about voting for a good man and getting rid of a very bad man at the same time. https://t.co/ybO5jqZk8s
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 9, 2020
Another proof point of Bill Barr’s hyperpoliticization of the Justice Department, which will be his legacy. https://t.co/kClaErlIXO
— James Hohmann (@jameshohmann) September 8, 2020
This is wrong on so many levels. Let’s hope there is a sensible judge on the federal bench who will put the kibosh on this scheme. Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for Trump’s personal legal woes.
IT JUST PROVES THAT TRUMP IS GUILTY!
(And also, that I have the best attorney in America, THE BEAST, Robbie Kaplan!) @kaplanrobbie https://t.co/prpts2Yjkn
— E. Jean Carroll (@ejeancarroll) September 9, 2020
Barr defended the Justice Department’s move to intervene in a defamation suit brought by a writer who claims Trump raped her in a department store dressing room 25 years ago, calling the move a “normal application” of a statute known as the Westfall Act https://t.co/bXMjojQlYi
— POLITICO (@politico) September 9, 2020
Barr is such a good Trump lapdog.
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