The Justice Department is assuming the legal defense of President Donald Trump in a defamation suit brought by New York writer E. Jean Carroll, who claims Trump raped her in a department store dressing room 25 years ago, Politico reports. In moving the case from state to federal court 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 Carroll, a former advice columnist. If courts uphold the move, it could effectively shut down the suit. Carroll’s lawyers said it is preposterous to say Trump was engaged in official business when he disputed Carroll’s allegation, including calling the journalist and former “Saturday Night Live” writer “not my type.”
Carroll lawyer Roberta Kaplan 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. “On the basis of information now available with respect to the incidents alleged in the complaint … Defendant Donald J. Trump was acting within the scope of his office as President of the United States at the time of the alleged conduct,” said DOJ lawyer James Tuohey Jr. DOJ lawyers pointed to five cases where defamation suits against federal officials have been handled as suits against the government. Carroll claims that in 1995 or 1996 she ran into Trump at a Bergdorf Goodman store and agreed to help him pick out a gift. Carroll says the pair ended up in a lingerie section dressing room, where Trump assaulted and raped her. Trump says he has never met Carroll, despite a photo she has of the pair together.
1 Comment
He probably attacked that lady but you have to be careful. Why is she talking about it now? Politics? I sued one of my customers and he claimed I was sexually inappropriate with him. All I did was grab his but a few times at a cocktail party. That’s not sex or rape that is just two dudes having fun with each other. But once I sued him he claimed I was a sex fiend.